Dreams to Ashes
by KuraiBites
Summary: When new Go Glows turn up in the world without any relation to the Go family itself, Team Possible and Shego, new and old friends, get slowly thrown into a chain reaction of revelations, that will change everything they know. HIATUS
1. Pink

Summary: When new Go Glows turn up in the world without any relation to the Go family itself, Team Possible and Shego, new and old friends, get thrown into a chain reaction of new revelations, that will change everything they know.

Rating: R (might be less, might be more, I'll stick with R to be safe)

Disclaimer: Nothings mine but the OCs. The rest belongs to the people who own it.

**Warning**: If you have absolutely no interest in reading about OCs next to our heroes, then I'd advice you to skip this story. There will also be **homosexual** content. English is not my first language, so be prepared to stumble upon sentences that might not make sense, grammar issues and spelling errors, but I swear I'm trying my best.

**Warning 2**: I've decided to make this an OC/Canon love fic. Since I know many dislike this kind of thing, here is a warning, to keep you from being disappointed later.

* * *

1. Pink

_________

It was a normal day.

The sun was shining brightly, whisps of white clouds were moving along the powder blue hue of the sky. A soft breeze was rustling the leaves of the trees and the typical sounds a neighbourhood could make floated through the warm air. It wasn't perfect, even though near that, just a nice and typical moment during the first weeks of autumn.

Kim tried to focus on her homework, but the sun rays hitting her window distracted her, making her sleepy. For the fourth time she found herself looking outside, watching a man going on a walk with his small dog, the two of them walking on the street past the house. When they vanished behind the frame of her window, she couldn't help but sigh. _Come on, it's just biology. It's so easy. _Another sigh. _Maybe too easy..._

She looked back at the book lying next to her left arm, the pictures and text concerning the tropes not really that fascinating when you had already seen the real thing. Rereading the last part again, she found her mind drifting at the very same sentence as it had before. Soon her chin was back on her hand, her eyes following a bird that landed in the garden. _Okay, so not working._

Perhaps she found some time in the evening to complete what she had started, but Kim really couldn't find enough will to concentrate on her work now. But what to do? The day was beckoning her to go outside, to take a deep breath and do whatever sprang to her thoughts. An idea jumped to her mind and she stood up and started to search for her wallet, homework already forgotten.

Kim counted the money she had, then closed the wallet with a satisfied grin. _I'm sure Ron has nothing to do but hanging around in front of the TV or playing strange video games, he should be up for a visit to Bueno Nacho. Boy, the day when he's _not _up for Bueno Nacho would probably be the end of the world._ She chuckled and turned around to search for the shoes she had flung to the side after coming home, when..

An oh so familiar beeping reached her ears. It came from the pocket of her school pack. Letting out a frustrated growl, she dropped the wallet on her bed, digging out the Kimmunicator. Hitting a button, Wades smiling face appeared on the small screen.

"Hey there, Kim!"

Even though not happy about the fact that her plans probably had to wait for another nice day, she smiled back at him. "Hey Wade. What's the sitch?"

The younger teen grabbed a soda from somewhere off the side, but didn't take a sip yet. "You've got a hit on the site. A really confusing one, you already know the people that asked for your help."

Sitting down on her bed, Kim spotted her shoes next to the door. "Tell me about it," she said, while reaching for the shoes with her free hand, her eyes still on the screen.

"It's Team Go," Wade continued, earning a suprised look from his friend. "Yeah, I know, very strange, since they are a super hero team themselves. But the message said, I read it out to you, that 'it is a very unique situation, that requires the attention of Kim Possible, who is not involved in the current problem'. Oh, and I think it was written by Mego, not Hego."

"What makes you think that?" Kim asked. She put the device on her mattress, so she could slip into her foot wear. Why would Team Go ask her to come? Hego always thought he could handle anything himself or with the power of the Go family.

"The whole text was written in a dark purple colour with a lighter purple as background. That's why I assumed it was Megos doing." He took a sip from his soda and Kim grinned. "Yeah, that sounds like it's from him. Did you call Ron?"

"Will do in a second. Your ride is on the way, it should arrive any moment. See you later." He waved at her with his drink.

Kim took the Kimmunicator back into her hands and waved back at him. "Thank you and Bye."

Wade hit a key and the screen went black. Jumping back up, she slipped the device in her pocket and stretched, before heading out the door and down the stairs. Her parents were down there, but she only saw her mother standing in the kitchen, chopping vegetables (judging the amount of green in front of her).

Kim skidded to a halt and entered her mother's domain. "Mum, I'm going out. You know, mission and everything. I try to be back home before dinner."

Mrs. Possible smiled at her daugther, stopping her work for a moment. "Sure, sweety. Be careful out there. Were are you going anyway?"

"Go city. I don't think it's anything that serious, at least Wade didn't sound like it was." Kissing her mother on the cheek, she could hear the rotating blades of a nearing helicopter outside. "I have to go, Bye!"

The female doctor of the household watched her daugther bouncing off and went back to preparing the meal with a slight shake of her head. _It's great that she saves the world on a daily basis as long as she has fun. I just hope it doesn't get too much for her to handle one day._

She never wanted to know what could happen if it _would_ be too much to handle. _Better not think about it. We can't stop her anyway...she is so good at what she does._ Mrs. Possible sighed and looked at the cut vegetables in front of her as if they could give the answers to every question in the world.

* * *

The helicopter stopped at Ron's house first, before the two of them were flown to Go city. Since they still didn't know what was going on, Ron created one horrible scenario after the other.

"Hego died, he choked on a poisoned nacho, after an angry fan of Bueno Nacho couldn't take the quitting of the naco anymore!" He threw his hands up in the air and stared at her with big eyes. "I'm sure that's what happened!"

Kim sighed and leaned back in her chair. Crossing her arms she lifted one eyebrow. "Ron, you're starting to sound like Drakken and his strange world domination schemes. And why poison it if he choked on it anyway? I'm sure that is _not_ what happened, only because Mego wrote the letter, it doesn't mean that anything happened to Hego."

Ron took his arms back down, deep in thought. "Well...then how about Aviarius dropped a giant cooked birdegg on the tower, squashing it. Hego is too depressed to stay leader anymore, so Mego is the one who takes over the job, but can't handle it, thus writing you. How's that?" He grinned at his little nacked friend, and the mole rat pumped his fist in the air.

"Yes, birdegg, uhuu!"

The redhead chuckled. "Oh, please! I'd like to see Aviarius cook a bird egg. And Hego not being leader?"

Ron scratched his chin. "Okay, you have a point. But I'm not done yet! How about..."

"Ron..."

"...a giant tsunami, hitting the Go Tower..."

"Ron."

"...a Godzilla-like creature destroying the town, Team Go unable to stop it..."

"Ron!"

"...mechas having a giant fight in the middle of...why are you waving your hand in front of my face?"

"Ron, we're here."

"Oh."

"And, look, the city looks perfectly fine. And there, in the distance you can see the tower: Undamaged." She grabbed his sleeve and pulled him up from his seat. "Come on, let's go and thank the pilot."

"Aw man, and I was just getting warmed up," Ron mumbled, but followed his best friend nonetheless.

* * *

They took the bus to the harbour and a friendly fisherman waved at them from a small and rusty boat. Walking over to him, the old man flashed them a toothless grin.

"Ah, the lady with the red hair and the blond boy with his rat, the Go family asked me to bring you over to the tower. Come on board, we can start right away."

While Kim just jumped on, Ron had to climb to get on deck, muttering all the while. "Rat he says, he's a naked mole rat, for god's sake!" He eyed the old wood he was standing on till he was sure that the boat would be able to drive at least another year. "Sorry buddy, seems like everyone can't understand that, just like they forget my name every time. It's fate, I think, we just have to live with that." Standing savely back on two feet, he patted Rufus head, who vanished back into his pocket after that.

It didn't take long for the boat to arrive at the smaller island with the two letter-shaped towers standing proudly on top of it, the roof almost touching the fluffy clouds that were chased across the sky by the winds. Near the water the wind was sharper and cooler and Kim thought about the jacket she owned, savely hanging between the other coats at home. But luckily it wasn't cold enough to freeze, the sun was still shining brightly and offered enough warmth.

Team Possible thanked the 'captain' of the small boat, who just grinned and waved at them, when they walked up to the doors of the tower. Ron was a bit disappointed that nothing serious seemed to have happened, not because he wanted the Go family or people in general to get hurt, but it bugged him that all his imaginated happenings were for naught.

Kim pushed the button on the control panel of the door, right above the hand panel, that was the door bell for all the people without the Go Glow. A faint music started to play inside and both teens lifted an eyebrow at the strange choice. But it wasn't surprising that Team Go's bell wouldn't sound like any ordinary one.

"See, even these guys have a theme music! We have a slogan, why can't we have music?" Ron wanted to know. Kim shushed him.

They didn't have to wait long, a minute later the door opened with a swish and in front of them stood Mego in all his purple glory. He didn't look very happy, but he was relieved to see them.

"Hello Kim, hello Ron. I'm glad you came so quickly. I'm sad to say it, but I think Team Go needs your help with this." The young man stepped to the side, so that the Possible Trio could walk inside. The door closed as quickly as it had opened and the light of the day was replaced with the artificial one.

"It's nice to see you again, Mego," Kim said smiling. "Actually, we are a bit curious why exactly you need our help. Did something happen? The city looked peaceful enough."

"Yeah, no exploding eggs or mechas stomping along," Ron added, which earned him a strange look from Mego.

The purple man motioned for them to follow him. "Well, it's not a problem of disastrous extent, but it's enough to make us nervous. And we can't find an explanation for what happened. But you can see for yourself in a few minutes."

They followed him through gray halls and corridors and a few rooms, most of them bare or only vacated by a table and a few chairs. The Go tower was big, there were at least ten floors and more than enough room for four people. Maybe even too much, since the lower floors seemed not to be used very often. But it was clean and many windows offered a beautiful view on the city or the sea. Still, Kim didn't think that she could live here for a longer time. She was happy with the small, but cozy house of her parents.

Together the three humans and one pet stepped into the elevator, silent all the time. It was a bit awkward for both sides, Kim suspected. Mego and the other three Gos were superpowered heroes, watching over the city and doing their own thing. But Kim and Ron were an _international_ team of heroes, both of them only nineteen years old but still very successful, even though just being normal humans. Both partys were on friendly terms, but they couldn't deny the traces of envy on both sides. But whatever happened, the family needed their help and Team Possible would do whatever they could.

Suddenly, after passing through another hall (which looked almost the same as all the others), Mego suddenly stopped next to a door and turned around.

Mego turned his head and his hand gripped the door handle. "Were here. Hego should be inside and he is a bit upset about the fact that I called you. Don't mind him, though. He will cooperate, it's just that he might be a bit snippy." He shrugged slightly. "You probably still know how he is."

Kim grinned. "Yeah, I didn't forget. It's okay, I think I would feel the same if I was him. Let's get to the problem."

Mego nodded and opened the door. He stepped inside, holding up a hand. "Hey, were back."

Kim and Ron entered the room and were surprised about what they found there. The room wasn't furnished much more than the other ones they had seen. A table stood in the middle, surrounded by five chairs. A cupboard and a counter were standing at the back wall, a window on the left side made the room a bit more lively. Hego was standing next the window frame and leaned against the wall, he greeted them with a nod.

But the surprising part didn't belong to this room. Actually it looked, like it didn't even belong in this kind of tower.

Sitting on a chair next to the table was a girl, not much younger than Team Possible itself. She had her hands folded in her lap and her head hung low, brown hair framed her face and fell down her shoulders. Two pink strands were tucked behind her ears. She wore black trousers and a neon pink skirt, a black t-shirt and a collar with gleaming rivets. Her clothes were adorned with safety pins.

The girl seemed to be extremely uncomfortable, maybe even a bit scared. Her brown eyes shot a quick glance at Hego, but when she saw that he was watching her, she resumed looking at the ground, nibbling at her lip.

"So...I assume that this is the problem you were talking about? I have to say, I'm a bit confused," Kim admitted and it showed clearly in her eyes.

"Jesus, it's just a girl! We came all the way just for a girl? I thought we were having a tough fight with Aviarius or something like that..." Ron grumbled. Rufus scrambled out of his pocket, looking at the girl with curiousity.

Mego took one of the chairs and sat down on it with a sigh, while his brother just glared at the girl, who shot him another nervous glance. "Well, it's not that easy, Ron. That girl has, or better, did something, that puzzled us." He looked at the brown haired girl. "Trista, these two are Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable." There was an annoyed squeal. "Um, and Rufus, the naked mole rat."

"Uh-hu, naked, that's right!" Rufus said, standing on Ron's shoulder and hitting his chest proudly with a fist.

Trista, the girl, looked up with an admiring glance in her eyes. Like many people, she also knew of the famous team. "Hi..I'm Trista O'Reilly," she said with a nervous smile.

Kim smiled brightly at Trista. "Hi, nice to meet you." Her open and friendly eyes sparkled at the girl and made her feel a bit more at ease already. Then she turned around a bit and looked at Hego. "So, and the problem is..?"

Hego pushed himself from the wall and crossed his arms in front of his strong chest. "We heard from Miss O'Reilly three days ago for the first time. The police contacted us."

The leg of the table suddenly seemed very interesting to Trista. But Hego went on. "She was caught by a detective of a department store, because she stole a piece of clothing. She tried to run away, but the detective send two police officers after her. After some problems they finally caught her. Since it was her first time of stealing, there was no big punishment waiting for her, other than a talk with her parents. But during the chase of capturing her, something happened and the police department decided to contact us. Yesterday, we brought her here."

Kim was getting a bit annoyed at the whole situation, since she wanted to know what the 'real' problem was. "Stealing is not very good, but it's no reason for you to take care of her. Can you please tell me what happened, that you took her with you and had to contact us, too?"

"We, or better, Trista should show you." Mego leaned a bit forward. "Would you please show them?"

Trista hurriedly shook her head. "No, I won't!"

"Trista, please. You need to show them. Why don't you?" Mego asked pleadingly.

"Because I don't want to. I don't like it. You made me do it the last time." The girl snapped back, glaring at the purple man.

Hego stepped forward. "And the chase? You didn't hesitate to do it, while the police was after you, hm?" He towered over her and Trista shrank back.

"I...I was scared.." she stuttered, nervously fiddling with her hands.

Kim couldn't watch the interrogation any longer and stepped forward, putting a hand on Hegos shoulder she made him take a step back. Then she looked at the brown haired girl, who had tears of fear in her eyes. "Trista, you don't have to be afraid. Look, Ron and I are here to help you. If you show it to us, maybe we can find a way to fix the problem," she said in a soothing voice.

Hego and Mego inched back slowly, they knew that this wasn't something that could be solved with superpowers. The girl looked at Kim hopefully. Then she sighed. "I really don't like to do it. And I'm sorry I hurt the police officer." She pushed her arms forward, palms facing the ceiling. Her brows furrowed as she concentrated.

And then, her hands started to glow bright pink.

Kim and Ron, both having not suspected what would happen, gasped as they saw the glow. It was identical to every other glow they had seen, just in a different colour.

"That's the Go Glow! She has a Go Glow?" Ron asked, equally surprised and puzzled.

Just as quickly as she had shown them, she tucked her hands into the crocks of her elbows. The Glow faded after a few seconds and Trista was hanging her head again, a sad and scared look on her face.

"How is that possible? I thought, only the ones hit by the comet did have them..."

"And that would be the Go family," Ron finished for Kim. "And I don't think she is some long lost sister or cousin or something like that?"

"We followed our family tree back a few hundred years," Hego said, shaking his head. "There is no way that her family and ours might be related. Trista's ancestors are Irish, the Gos never had any Irish family members. So I think we can't explain her powers as some kind of blood relation."

"And of course, there is the comet incident. Trista wasn't with us when that damn thing hit us," Mego added and Hego shot him a glare. His brother held up his hands. "Sorry, I know, no swearing. Sheesh." He rolled his eyes and sunk back into his seat.

Kim sat down at the table, too. She looked at the two Go members, thinking. "How many years ago was the comet incident?"

The brothers looked at each other, then Hego spoke up. "I think it's about fifteen years now. The twins were just toddlers when it happened."

"Trista..." Kim turned to the girl, who had followed the discussion with interest, her hands still tucked under her arms.

"Uhm...actually, you can call me Trish. Everyone calls me that...I don't like my real name that much." She shrugged slightly. Trish wasn't that scared anymore, but Kim was able to tell that she was still nervous and a bit intimidated. She was sitting between two of the famous Team Go members and in front of her sat the world-known Team Possible, discussing about her like she wasn't sitting in the same room. The girl was happy that someone finally decided to talk to her, even if it was just for getting informations.

Kim smiled at her and corrected herself. "Trish...I think you can tell us best about that. Do you remember anything strange that happened in your life around that time? Were you and maybe your family ever hit by something from the sky or near it when it happened?"

The girl looked down and started to think. Megos eyebrows shot up. "You think she might be hit by the same comet?"

"Or at least a fragment of it. Maybe the comet burst into different parts, after he hit the earths atmosphere. And maybe these parts were too small to be noted by anyone, or nobody saw them coming down."

Hego nodded at Kims words. "Yeah, you're right, that's a real good explanation."

All heads turned and looked at Trish, who still was chewing at her bottom lip, deep in thought. Then she suddenly looked up. "No. I never was hit by anything like that."

Their faces fell and Kim scratched her head. "Okay, so there goes my explanation. I think we need some other help to find out how.."

"But I was hit by an explosion around that time. I was two years old, when it happened." Trish quickly said, before Kim could finish her sentence.

"And it wasn't because of some strange, colorful thing falling from the sky?" Ron asked jokingly.

The brunette shook her head. "No, it happened in a fabrik hall." She fell silent, but Kim edged her on with a wink of her hand. "Come on, tell us the whole story. You won't bore us, I'm sure."

Trish took a breath and went on. "My father took me with him, because he wanted to show me to his co-workers. After some time, he placed me down in the hall, told me not to go away and went to help a few of his friends with a broken forklift. I was just two years old, so of course I started to run around and went into another hall, unnoticed. It was full of big barrels. I don't remember much after that...I just know that I didn't do anything but look into the room and suddenly the world went white." She licked her lips, apparently not very fond of the memory. "My parents told me later, when I was older, that there was a huge explosion. They never found out what triggered it. But I'm very sure that it was no comet fragment."

There was a moment of silence, but then Hego spoke up, unbelieving. "But...how come you're still alive? You were standing right next to it! And I don't see any burn marks on your skin." His voice went from unbelieving to suspicious and he eyed her again with that look only a hero can give a criminal.

The girl blushed, part of her upset of being unofficially called a liar, part embarrassed. "I didn't expect you to believe me, but you wanted me to tell it. I don't even think I believe it myself, since I was brought to the hospital afterwards undamaged."

Team Possible looked at her with eyes like saucers. "Undamaged? You were standing next to an explosion without getting hit?" Now it was Kims turn to be unbelieving. She had her experience with explosions, and even though she never was hurt critically, she also never got away totally undamaged.

"I don't remember if I was hit or not, but yes, I woke up in the hospital without a scratch."

Kim and Ron looked at each other questionally, but then Mego spoke up. He was sitting there, his eyebrows drawn together, his gaze thoughtful. "Actually...if I remember correctly, we weren't hurt either, or were we, Hego?"

The blue clad man hesitated, but then nodded. Mego scratched his chin. "So, even though we can't proof her story, we also can't call it untrue. We woke up in the hospital too, but no one of us even had one bruise. But it's still strange, because there was no comet involved in the explosion Trish told us about, at least not officially. Say, did you get your powers shortly after that?"

Trish shrugged. "I think I used them the first time when I was five. But that was with real power. The glow started to show up sooner, I think."

Ron placed his hands onto the table, between the brunette and his best friend. "Say, what exactly does your power do? We have super strength, size changing and duplicating. Oh, and I forgot the nasty one, plasma. And yours? What are yours about?" He was very curious, watching the girl like a kid finding out about a new superhero.

"It's at least dangerous enough, that it can hurt people," Hego growled.

"I didn't hurt him! At least not willingly.." Trish shot at the blue clad man angrily. They could see tears forming in her eyes. "I was just protecting myself! I only tried to run away and suddenly I tripped and fell...and when I looked back and saw both of them pulling out their guns I...I just....I was just so scared!" The girl hid her face in her hands and sobbed.

Kim jumped up and patted Trishs back, Ron looked like he wanted to help, too, but didn't know what to do. The Go members just gazed awkwardly around the room.

The redhead put one arm around the other girls back, who let her hands fall back on her knees, sniffling slightly. Her eyes were red and she wipped away a small tear quickly.

"It's okay, Trish. We believe you." She sent her friend a look and Ron nodded and smiled, showing that he supported her, too. "You didn't want to hurt him, it was a situation you couldn't handle. You probably used your powers without thinking."

Trish rubbed her nose. "I really acted without thinking...I was shocked the first second and the next I see the man lying on the ground, my hands glowing. After that, I couldn't run away anymore...that I would do something like that...that I _can_ do it, is more than scary. I'm afraid that if I do it again, I hurt someone else." Her eyes showed how afraid she was about that happening. "That's why I hate my powers..they are evil."

Kim went back to her seat. "But you are in the room with two superheroes, who have the same kind of power as you and they use it for good things. Don't you think that showing them would clear up some questions? Maybe they even could help you to control it." She sent a calming smile in the girls direction. "And if you could control it, something like what happened with the police man would never happen again."

"Kim's right, girl," Mego said suddenly, "you are not used to your power. It's alien to you, since you don't use it. We could help you control it, or at least give you some advice."

"But for that we need to see what your powers do," Hego said and went to the door. "Our powers are not evil, they are the reason for us becoming heroes. Come on, you can show what you are capable of in our training room."

"And don't worry, you don't have to be afraid of hurting anyone, it's totally save," Mego hastily added, after he saw the girl hesitating. It seemed like she still didn't trust Hego, but after Mego's words she sighed and stood up.

"Okay..but only because it's a chance to get this thing under control."

* * *

The hall was empty, grey stone lined the walls and visible cracks and burn marks were placed everywhere randomly, showing the frequent use of the room. Trish stood in the middle, looking quite lost all alone in there.

Both teams waited behind a wall of glass in the technic area, which was placed a few feet above the ground, where they could watch all happenings in the Go training hall. Kim pushed a green button, leaning down to speak into the microphone, that would transfer her voice to the hidden speakers.

"Okay, let's start now. You can activate your Glow quite easily, right?" She could make out Trishs nod and went on. "Try to activate it now."

The girl hesitated a moment, looking down at her bare hands. Then, her hands were hidden by a soft pink glowing. It flickered for a while, reflecting Trishs nervousness, but then it turned into a steady light.

The young hero smiled. "That's good. Can you go further and...attack the wall?" She turned to Hego and Mego for assurance. "The wall will hold, won't it?"

Both brothers nodded, but it was Mego who half-grinned. "It even kept Shego at bay. Well, at least most of the times. I don't think an untrained Go Glow, if it is one, can crack more than the outer wall."

"Then it should work. Go on, Trish!"

Four people and one naked molerat watched paitently, while Trish eyed the walls around her. Still feeling quite lost, she tried to push her fist in a half-hearted trust in front of her, hoping it would do something. When nothing happened, she attacked the air with more force, but still the Glow wouldn't leave her fingers. She concentrated on her hands, imagining the pinkish light to be some kind of heat she could throw through the air.

After a while of untrained, unsuccessful shadow boxing, she turned back to the technic area. "This is ridiculous!"

Ron and Mego were sniggering quietly and Kim shushed them with a wave of her hand. "Don't laugh at her! She isn't used to this and it's stressful enough for her. She went in there, because we asked her, not because she wanted to." They had at least the decency to look guilty. "Hego, can't you help her somehow?" She sent a pleading glance to the blue-clad man.

Hego sighed, walking next to Kim. "Here, let me." He bowed down to another microphone and pushed the activation button. "Trish, try to concentrate on your hands."

"I did that! It didn't work. I can't do it.." Nervous fidgening had turned into misery.

"Stop the bawling and listen to what I say. Concentrate! And now try to remember the moment, when you ran away from the police.."

Trish turned pale. "What? No! No way. That was horrible!"

"For god's sake, don't behave like a kid. I'm just trying to help you," Hego said in a voice, that could not be described as very nice.

"Well, you're _not_ helping!"

"You should be more than thankful, that I, Hego and Leader of Team Go, wastes his time for a spoiled brat like you! Just do what I say now!"

Kim could see, that the situation turned into a very bad direction. Trish, even though angry, was becoming more and more intimidated, standing in the hall with pink hands and shaking shoulders. "Hego, maybe this isn't quite-.."

"I'm not spoiled, you...you... stupid hero, stop shouting at me!" Trish cried back at him.

"Don't tell ME what to do, girly! One more word and you're going straight back to the police station! I'm very interested to know what your parents will say, when they find out that their daughter attacked the police-...."

The attack hit the glass wall with such force, that the room shock. The guys fell down to the floor, not prepared to react that fast, but Kim was able to stay on both her feet. A large crack split the glass wall in two halfs, a few glass splinters engulfed in a pink light falling down to the hall ground. She rushed to the window, looking for the girl. "Trish!"

Trish was laying on the ground, coughing but undamaged, her own attack had knocked her backwards. Her glow flickered strongly, then faded away and went out without a sound.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, just...feeling a bit weak..." Desoriented, Trish looked at the broken glass. "Uh...was that me?.."

"What about you, guys?" Kim turned around, watching the others stand up.

Ron had fallen into a chair, rubbing his arm he watched Hego helping Mego up. "We're okay, I think. Wow, what a bang." He looked up and registered the damage in front of him. "Whoa! That Trish's doing?"

Rufus scrambled up the control table, poking the glass wall. Mego followed, touching the crack. "It's not hot."

"I think I know, what your power is, Trish. And your motivator for activating your powers." Kim shot Hego a heated glare. "I think it's force. A bit like Hegos enhanced strength, just a bit weaker and working on distance. I guess the attack took all your energy."

Nodding, the younger girl tried to keep steady on her shaking legs. She felt as if she just run a marathon around town with a three days lack of sleep. A nice, warm bed and a dark, quiet room suddenly seemed very tempting, but she tried to keep awake.

"Don't worry, we're coming down now."

"Well, it definitly is a Glow. Or at least, what we define as Go Glow. This is quite a mistery," Mego wondered, when they left the room and walked down the stairs.

"It is. I don't exactly know where to start with this problem...but first, we should bring Trish back home. I think her parents are worried and she looked like she's going to fall asleep any second." Putting a hand on the door knob, she pulled it back. Surprised she took a step back, because the younger girl came falling into the floor.

"S-sorry, I was leaning against the door..." Her gaze fell on Hego and both of them stared angrily at each other for a second. Trish dropped her head first, shrinking back to were Kim was standing.

"Oh come on, Hego, it's enough. The only one behaving like a kid are you," Mego said groaning.

"But-.."

"He's right, you can stop now. Try imagining yourself in her situation," the redhead interrupted him.

Luckily, Hego finally decided to stay quiet, but Trish didn't look very reassured. Her head hung low and she shot a frightened glance back at the door of the training hall. "I can't believe I did that....I...."

"That was so cool!"

"Huh?"

Ron pumped a fist into the air. "I mean, wow! One moment you're screaming at Hego and the next - BOOM! Pink explosion! Booyah!" He jumped up, stretching his arms in every direction.

"Pink boom, uh huh!" He high-fived Rufus, who sat on his shoulder.

Trish and Kim stared at the two strangely, then Kim started to laugh. Mego sniggered and even Trish finally managed a small grin, while Hego kept on sulking.

On their way to the hangar, were they kept the Go Yet, Ron told Trish about the many superheroes that had the "same supercool megapower" as her. While she was happy that Ron talked to her so openly and in a language that was more her age, she had a hard time keeping her eyes open. When the Go Yet stopped in the city to let the Possible Team exit, the young girl was deeply asleep in her seat.

Mego promised them to bring her home safely and keep Trishs parents from worrying, while they in return promised to look out for any signs what could have happened to Trish. After saying their goodbyes, Kim and Ron went home in a car Wade organizied for them, still wondering about the strange informations they had gotten today.

______


	2. Double Trouble

2. Double Trouble

______________

Kim was sleeping. She was sleeping peacefully and deeply and all the other words you can associate with a perfect night of rest. So when her Kimmunicator beeped, not only did she have a hard time adjusting to wakefulness, her good mood was also going down the drain quite quickly. With blurring focus, her hand fumbled for the little gadget on her nightstand.

"Wade?" Kim mumbled sleepily into the screen.

"Sorry for waking you, Kim," the boy genius said sheepishly, "but there are news that I thought you wanted to hear. Remember the Trista accident you told me about two weeks ago?"

"Trish," she automatically corrected still half asleep. "Yeah, I do. Please, wait a moment."

Kim laid the Kimmunicator next to her down on the bed and spent a few seconds rubbing her eyes, ruffling her hair and letting out a huge yawn, before taking it back into her hands. She felt much better now. Wade normally _did_ have a good reason to wake her up at such a time, so she pushed her grumbly mood back into it's corner and focused on what he wanted to tell her. "Okay, now I can focus. Spill it."

"Great. So, listen to this.." Wade's head turned to the side and key tipping could be heard. Something beeped in the backround, a printer sounded and after a second he held up a few papers. "GJ contacted me a few moments ago. I read through it, before calling you. When Team Go asked for you, we send a notice about what happened to GJ, right? In case they knew anything we didn't. Well, the information made it's way through the organization, people talked about it and all that, all internal, of course. Now, so they wrote, a junior trainee named Aron Ashby came up to tell them something about that topic. Seems he _also_ has a Go Glow, though he called it differently. He says, he had this power his whole life long, but since his family isn't related to the Go's in any way, he never brought it up and kept it to himself and his family. Seems like he didn't want to cause an uproar of any kind."

Kim wondered for a moment if she was still asleep. "You're joking, right?" _I think, I should pinch myself right now._

"Really, I'm not kidding. It's here, black on white." He turned the pages around, holding them in front of the camera. The redhead spotted some words in the text, which her friend had summarized.

"Wow, this is...I mean, that really is some news. Do they want me to come?"

"They at least want you to talk to them about it. Call it information exchange or something like that." Wade grinned. "Want me to wake Ron?"

Kim smiled and looked at the clock. It was three a.m. and Ron probably would be so deeply asleep, that even if they woke him up he would never be able to function properly. "No, let him sleep. Tell GJ, we'll come to them right away in the morning. I'm totally interested in what is happening and what this might be about, but it's not acute. We need our sleep, I'm sure they'll understand."

"Since the informations are from Dr. Director, I'm quite sure she'll understand. Good Night, Kim, see you in the morning."

"Night, Wade. Oh, and Wade... what's a boy like you doing up at this time of the night?" she asked cheekily.

Wade paled a little, caught like a kid with his hand in the cookie jar. Probably in an electronical cookie jar. "I, um..well, look at that, someone's calling me, uh, Bye Kim!"

The teen hero just laughed at the sudden black screen and laid back in her still warm bed. Despite her words about sleep, Kim had a hard time slipping back into it, while her ever curious mind turned in wonder about the late happenings.

___________

Kim Possible was a do-gooder and nothing could ever change that. Thus, after enrolling into college, she had taken her first steps to become a lawyer. She took courses in different subjects, too, like biology and physics, because one subject alone couldn't keep her ever interested mind satisfied. Of course, she took great caution to not let the workload become too much or to let it interfere with her mission time, which had become less since she had graduated. GJ didn't ask her for any little problem anymore, only asking for her help in more severe happenings.

They also had offered her a permanent place, since Kim was the number one person for world saving. She had thought about that offer a great deal, but after considerating it, she send GJ her thanks and refused politely. If anything they could not handle without her should turn up, they were free to call her, but it was the 'small' people Kim wanted to help first and foremost.

But instead of returning straight to her studys, another offer had been made to Kim, which suited her much better than anything else. The Middleton police force was searching for new recruits and the famous teen hero was the first one they thought of. She remembered the day the chief of police himself had visited her at home.

"I would gladly lay down my position for you, if it meant having Kim Possible on our police force," he had told her with such respect and honesty, that Kim had been flattered. Her first reaction after his words had consisted of a lot of blushing and refusing, making the Chief and her parents laugh.

"Anyway, to be serious, all of Middletons police force would be more than happy to have you. We all respect and care about you and you'd be welcomed warmly. Please think about it, even if you decide the things we do might be small fishes against what you could do for the world." He grinned and winked, making the last part a joke, but it had triggered something inside of the redhead that she couldn't deny. In the end, she decided to first end college, before choosing what she wanted to do for the rest of her life, but her heart was already set out to become a Middleton police woman. It was the fight for right and justice where she belonged and it was the normal population of the town she loved she could help, while still assisting GJ in rescuing the world when needed.

While all those she knew (and many people she didn't) had congratulated her for her choice, no one was really surprised about it. It was Ron who drew that emotion to himself.

Everyone had assumed that Ron would either become a trained fighter in Japan or act on his love for cooking meals, but he had chosen a whole different direction, as he had told her when they were both sitting down in a Bueno Nacho booth one day and stuffing themselves.

"I'm going to become a veterinarian," he'd formally announced, cheese still clinging to his chin. Kim had hugged him for full five minutes after that, happy and proud of his choice in what he wanted to do.

Not only had he surprised people with this, he also started to work really hard to reach that goal. It was another reason why Kim rather wanted to let Ron sleep at night, since she knew how much time he spent on learning.

Still, the hero was happy when she woke up in the morning, since the new sitch raised a lot of questions that Kim wanted answered, be it out of curiosity or else. Even Ron seemed agitated when they stepped down from the helicopter, crouching down to not get hurt by the rotating blades. Dr. Director was waiting for them in her usual straight pose, hands behind her back, standing patiently.

"Good morning, Dr. Director," Kim and Ron said almost at the same time. Rufus waved happily, clinging to the blond's shirt.

"Good morning to you both. Follow me." Not a woman of many words, Dr. Director turned and stepped into the buildings, the two best friends trailing after her.

"Thanks for sending us the 'copter," the redhead said, once they were in the more quiet parts of the building.

"Since I was the one contacting you, it was only proper to send you a ride. It's no problem, don't mention it."

"Anything we need to know, before talking to...Mr. Ashby?"

Dr. Director stopped in front of a escalator, pressed a button and turned to look at them. "Nothing important, we waited for your arrival before interviewing him. His name is Aron Ashby, as I wrote you, he is your age, the son of governor Marcel Ashby and a junior trainee at GJ. There are two younger brothers in his records. He's been here since about six months and his future in GJ looks very promising, but you will see that yourself once you meet him."

Stepping into the elevator, Kim leaned against the wall surprised. "Governor Ashby? The one that's candidating in Leaktown?"

"The same," Dr. Director replied, pushing a code into the wall.

"Whoa, a politician's son, cool." Ron smiled, seemingly forgetting that they had already met several important persons and presidents around the world.

"I wonder how Governor Ashby's son happens to have a Go Glow...this is all so strange."

"Go Glow. I think we need a new name for that superpower thingie," Ron said to Kim, who nodded. "I vote for Prismatic Power!"

"You've been reading Prismatic Man again, haven't you?" his friend asked with an eyeroll. "That comic series is _so_ cheesy."

The blond boy protested, but before he could start his defence the elevator doors opened and the GJ head motioned them to follow her.

The trio walked down an empty corridor, dozens of identical doors leading into who-knew-what rooms. The whole interior was kept in GJ colours and very sterile, it all reminded Kim slightly of the Go tower. With the difference that the Go tower had much more lively colours and felt a lot more homely. Windows of any kind were missing, too, only the constant roar of the air vents kept the air fresh and clean.

"Here we are." Dr. Director stopped in front of a door, a number and name plate at the side indicating which room it was. She nodded at them and walked inside first. Kim and Ron shared a look, then went in after her.

The room was even more empty than the Go tower one, a table with half a dozen chairs were all that could be found, other than a smaller door in the back. On one chair, a handsome, dark-skinned young man was sitting, whom they noticed as they entered the room. Smoothly he stood up, saluting to the doctor and smiling welcoming at the new faces. His hair was a deep black and long enough to be held in a ponytail, which was falling down his back in soft, curly waves. Dressed in the formal GJ uniform, though it was a simple one, he made quite a striking figure.

"Good morning. I assume you two are Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable. It's an honour to meet you, I'm Aron Ashby, feel free to call me Aron." He reached out with his hand and the surprised young people shook it out of reflex.

"Nice to meet you, too." At the last second Kim remembered her good upbringing. After her initial surprise she shook her head and reflected Aron's warm smile with one of her own. She could see Ron still looked a little dumbfounded.

"Why don't we all sit down?" Dr. Director offered and pointed at the table. She sat down at the head of it and the teen heroes followed suit, facing Aron, who sat down on the other side.

"I think we all know why we are here. Aron, could you please show us the evidence for this meeting?" the one-eyed woman asked her underling, who nodded gravely. He placed his hands on top of the table and after a few seconds, both of them started to shine in a warm, undenyingly turquoise glow. Team Possible widened their eyes and Rufus even let out a surprised chatter.

"Why didn't you tell someone about this before?" was the first answer that slipped past Kim's lips. "Or rather, how long did you have it?"

Aron, who slipped a hand through his thick, wavy hair, let out a sigh. "I don't know exactly how I could've gotten it. The first time it showed I was five years old and running away from a rock slide. My parents and I were on a holiday in the woods and I ventured too far while playing explorer. My dad told me to be careful, but of course an adventurer like me didn't listen to him. Boy, was he angry afterwards." He grinned half-heartedly.

"After an explosion of colour in front of me, I found myself running much faster than I should have been able to, right into the arms of my shocked dad. Saved my life, that strange power. Well, even though I was save, neither me nor my parents were very happy about it. I thought I was a freak. My father forbade me to ever use it again, since it isn't very good to be a politician while having a mutated son." His words were spoken without anger or bitterness, but Kim suspected there was more water under the bridge than the young man let show. She filled that thought for later, though.

"So you never used it again in any way?"

"Never. Tried to see if it was still there every few months when I was alone, but I never used it in any kind of competition or sports. Anyone would've seen it, since I start glowing when using it. I'm not a cheater." His last words were spoken very defensively. Kim smiled at him, putting him at ease.

"I didn't mean to imply that. I was simply curious. I guess your power is speed enhancement then?" Aron nodded yes. "And that's all to it? Since I guess you're...not related to Team Go in any way."

It was Dr. Director who answered her question. "We checked all family trees during the night, no relation whatsoever. I informed Team Go and they are just as clueless as they were with the first one."

All four looked down at the table, wonder eched in their faces. Ron spoke next. "So, now that GJ has found another one with these...glow powers, you decided to speak up? I mean, since you promised your dad and all that."

"As a member of GJ I had to tell them. I know they will keep it confidential, as will Team Go, so no one should find out anything. I already spoke with my father and he and I are both certain that telling you all is the right thing." They could see that Aron had a strong sense of justice, even with knowing that he was part of GJ. His posture was upright and strong and his dark eyes gleaming with rightness. Then he suddenly seemed uncertain again.

"You asked if this was all to it, didn't you? Well, there is one last thing...please wait a second." Aron stood up and went towards the smaller door in the back. They could get a small glimpse of a bathroom, before the door closed.

"Okay, this is getting more weird by the minute. Now we have two not-comet-hit, not-Go-related super powered humans and I'm betting my whole Naco money that those two aren't the only ones. There are so many questions my brain is starting to break apart." Ron groaned, holding his head in his hands, while Rufus petted his hair, uttering small "There, there" sounds.

"I can relate, Mr. Stoppable," the GJ head mumbled, pinching the bridge of her nose. This wasn't making sense and there was no right place to start looking for answers. Kim sighed and just sagged back against her chair.

Then the door opened and Aron stepped back inside. "That's it." He turned towards them and it took all three a few irritating moments before they understood what had changed.

Aron's eyes had turned from deep brown to a bright turquoise colour, not unlike that which made his hands glow. He blinked and smiled sheepishly. "Surprise?"

"This is just like Team Go's. This _has_ to be a Go Glow, in whatever way you might have gotten it," the redhead spluttered.

"Normally my hair is black, but it has a shimmer to it, too. I dye it, so that it can't be seen. Otherwise I'm just your normal neighbour guy...well, with a governor as a father." He sat back down with a toothpaste-commercial grin.

Now that Aron's secret had been laid open, it seemed like he was very glad about not having to keep it to himself anymore. Some hidden weight had been lifted from his soul and his eyes were shining even more intense and bright than before, making his good looks stand out even further. _That's some boy gifted with good genes_, Ron thought with a tiny bit of envy, but then he remembered the glow and reminded himself that those genes were not all happiness and sunshine. Still, Aron had lots of charisma.

"Look, Dr. Director...Kim, Ron. I would really like to help with whatever step you are planning next."

Dr. Director crossed her arms, then rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "What Mr. Stoppable just said wasn't that far off." Seeing Aron's wondering look, she started explaining. "While you took out which I assume were your contact lenses, he guessed that you and Ms. O'Reilly aren't the only ones with hidden Glows. They probably are either forbidden to show them or have the same train of thought that you do, Aron. They might believe something is wrong with them. We need to find out if there are more, and if yes, where they are. Maybe we can gather them all here, which means more information. Otherwise, we need to work with what we have."

"I'm ready to do whatever you need me to, ma'am," the super powered boy said with renewed energy.

"Go and start browsing all GJ files for strange information about the Glows and all that comes with it. Maybe there is a record of a power use, that wasn't connected to Team Go or Shego. You have my permission for the search, if anyone asks what a trainee is doing in the file cabinet."

"Thank you, Director. I will go straight to work." Aron stood up, turning to Team Possible with a bright smile. "Thank you all for coming and helping out. It was very nice meeting you, even though I hope I can see the famous two teen heros and their little partner in action someday. I'm sure we'll meet again, soon." Just like in the beginning, he shook their hands, Ron beaming at being recognized as a famous hero and Rufus at being mentioned at all. When he left with Good Byes from everyone, the blonde beamed at his partner.

"I'd vote for him!"

Kim chuckled. "His dad is the governor, Ron. But I'll admit, he really is a nice guy. I'm sure he'll do good work for GJ."

"Actually we're considering promoting him from his trainee status earlier than planned. His work is exceptional and he is admired by all his co-workers. You are quite right, GJ could use such a good field agent, he is perfect leader material." Dr. Director sighed deeply. "But that's old news. Back on track, I'm sure that your little genius friend is up for some research concerning this topic?"

"Sure, I'll ask him." Kim grabbed her Kimmunicator out of her pocket and switched the screen on. "You listened to what we were talking about, Wade?"

"Yeah, got it all." The boy wonder flipped his thumps up, while the head of GJ looked a bit sour at the thought that her billion dollar complex could be breached by a boy of mere eleven years. But since she trusted both Team Possible and Wade, she had to live with those news and give her head of security a good kick in the backside.

"So, any news about it?" Ron looked over his friends shoulder and saw Wade shaking his head.

"Not yet, but I'm going straight to work. I'll tell you once I find something. See y'all."

"Thanks and Bye." The screen went black again, but Kim knew the boy could still listen to what was said. "There you have it. Want us to contact you if we find anything?"

"Please. You can confront any subjects alone, I trust it you can handle them without our help. But I would like to be informed so we can keep track."

"Will do. I guess that's all then?"

Dr. Director nodded and stood up. After they had placed the chairs back into their original place, she led them back to the helicopter deck, where they bade each other farewell. Kim and Ron went back to their daily lives, but the search for answers never went far in their minds.

____________________

Ron and Kim were chatting the time away at Bueno Nacho, which they still visited from time to time, when Wade let himself known. Quickly wiping the cheese on her face away with a napkin, the redhead took out the chiming gadget, while Ron continued with happily wolving down his food.

"Hi there, what's the sitch? Any missions? Please say no, I'm still sore from the helicopter jump," she pleaded with a wry grin.

"Ftill can't believe I loft my pantf in the tree. Waf my favourite pair, too!" Ron spat out between cheese, naco and salad.

The dark-skinned boy blinked. "What'd he say? The pants again?"

"Yeah, he got stuck in a tree, upside down. You can guess the rest." They grinned at each other while the blond mumbled angrily behind his food. Ron's pant-loosing had become better, but there _still_ were some moments..

"Relax, Kim. It's not a mission...at least, not really_._ I might've found something else about the Glow topic." Wade leaned back in his chair, his brow furrowed. "Or _someone_ else."

That even made Ron look up from his favourite past time. Kim placed the Kimmunicator onto the table, so they both could see what Wade was doing. The redhead groaned and placed her elbows on the table. "Don't tell me another person reported to GJ? Is that a new trend or something? Having funny coloured super powers?"

"Who knows? But this one here was a bit more hidden than the other ones. Seems like there is a boy...uh, young man, who might have a glow, I can't tell if it's really true."

"And who is it?" Ron asked exitedly. He found the news great. _Hey, wait, Tai Shing Pek Kwar almost counts as superpowers, too! _ the sidekick thought with a silly grin. Maybe his comics really held some truth to them, which would mean there were super heroes all around the whole world! Boo-yah!

"His name is Lesley York. I found out about him thanks to some medicinal reports a Dr. Bruning wrote down. 7 years ago, Ms. York came to him with her son about a 'special case'. He wrote down some of the extraordinary symptoms and made tests, but two weeks later they claimed that the 'illness' had vanished. They moved towns, so he had to stop his research."

"Let me guess, one of the symptoms were hands that glowed in a special color?"

Wade leaned back in his chair and smiled. "How did you know, Kim? That's a real surprise, eh? Even though, I sent you the adress where they live now, maybe you want to speak with them. Or do you want me to send GJ there first?"

"No, it's all right," Kim said while reading the adress. It wasn't very far from Middleton and they could go there by bus. "Just tell them what you know and that we're on it. I think they might want to start a deeper research, this is getting creepy if it _is_ another one with a Go Glow."

"Prismatic Power," Ron added in a correcting tone.

His best friend looked up to him with a sly look. "We haven't decided on that yet!"

"But it sounds so cool!"

Kim turned back to the screen while reaching across and slightly pulling at Ron's ear, which caused the boy to yelp. "So, how did'ya find out about this guy? Did you hack into research center databases or what?"

"Try google," the boy wonder answered with a chuckle. "Sometimes it's so much easier than you think, you just need to add the right search words."

"Even we could've done that," Ron mumbled, rubbing his lobe.

"Anyway," Kim added, sending her boyfriend a sweet smile over the display for the attack, "I think we have time to go there today. It's only noon and we already finished our seminars. We'll report back to you, 'kay?"

"Sounds cool. See ya!"

When the Kimmunicator went black, the redhead let out a deep sigh. "Let's finish eating and find out about this. God, I really hope whatever is happening or did happen in the past isn't going to come back now and bite us in the ass."

"Relax, KP. I'm sure that nothings wrong. Maybe it's just...too much exposure to radioactive waves or a strange combination of food during childhood. It might be trivial." He reached over and squeezed her hand softly. Ron knew that his favourite woman in the world was deeply troubled by the whole situation and he tried his best to keep her spirit up. To be honest, he couldn't see what was so bad about a few more people with Go Glows, if they didn't even act up with them.

"It could be...but what if it's not? Maybe the meteor really split up during it's fall down the earth and the parts just weren't found...." She scrunched her face up. "Wait, that would be trivial, too. But imagine, what if one of the villains found out about these people? They might corrupt them or abduct them, use their powers for evil..."

"Then we need to make sure that they don't find out about it!" The blonde grinned, quite happy with his solution.

Kim had to laugh. "You make it sound so easy. Well, let's hope then that GJ has no leaking spots."

"They know what they're doing." He let go of her hand and returned to his nacho, only to find his plate completely empty. Grumbling, he crossed his arms. "Aw man! Rufus, what about sharing? You're greedy!"

The nacked mole rat with the big bulge lying in front of him burped softly and showed him the universal thumbs-down sign. In the end, a laughing Kim shared the rest of her meal with poor Ron.

____________________

"You think he's a nice guy?"

Kim shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe. Maybe not. We'll see in a few moments."

"Yeah, I'm just wondering... Trish was fun. And Aron was just plain cool. Very...how'd you say? Sophisticated. It would be really nice if Lesley would be as easy, too!"

She smiled at her best friend, who couldn't wait for the meeting. He was beaming with anxiety now that he knew that there were real superpowers, even though hard to explain, all around the nation. Kim had to stop him at least half a dozen times from getting geek in the bus, the people hadn't been very amused by his loud exclamations of "Pow-wow!", "Ba-boooom!", "Ka-THONK!" and so on, her only advice being "Stick to the monkey power."

"So, what do we have? His name's Lesley York, right? Anything else?"

"Wade didn't send anything, but if we have any questions left, I'm sure we can ask him later. First, let's just ask Lesley himself-....oh, look, that should be the right one!"

The former teen heroes turned young adult heroes stopped and looked at a quite simple, small family home. There was a very tiny garden, not overly well kept but also not overgrown. The house's facade was old and the color somewhat between murky brown and dirty yellow, but the lively curtains and little hanging trinkets they could see behind the windows promised a warm interior.

"Looks nice," Ron simply said. "A bit run-down maybe."

The former cheerleader eagerly grabbed the boy's arm, dragging him with her. "Come on, let's see if someones home." They advanced towards the door, Kim ringing the shrill doorbell for about one second.

Suddenly the house came to life, a female voice shouting something incomprehensible on the inside, while the sound of someone running down the stairs could be heard. Now both young visitors were quite curious what kind of person would be coming to greet them and what the supposed super powered boy could be like.

The clattering of a key sounded just behind the door, someone calling "Just a sec'!" and then the entrance was opened. In front of them stood a young boy (man?) past his teenage years, with a physique very close to Ron's and a mop of unruly, orange reddish hair on top of his head. He had a simple, undistinguished face and deep set, droopy eyes.

Which were of a very clear orange-brownish color and practically screamed 'Go Glow'.

No big surprise there.

"Yes? Can I help you?" the boy asked with a calm, leveled voice.

"I guess you're Lesley York? My name's Kim Possible, and that's Ron Stoppable and Rufus." Kim pointed to everyone, the naked mole rat waving friendly at the stranger from his spot on Ron's shoulder.

Lesley nodded a bit unsure, nervousness creeping into his eyes which flitted from one guest to the other. "Yeah." His look spoke volumes about his knowledge of Team Possible. There were a few seconds of silence, the boy clearly didn't know what to make of them.

"Uh..."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Kim hastily started. "Can we come in for a moment? We'd like to talk to you about some things.. don't worry, you're not in trouble or anything." She smiled at him.

"Uhm, yeah. Sure." Then Lesley remembered that he was blocking the doorway and quickly moved to the side. His demeanour was still nervous, but it eased up a little. "I'm sorry, please come in. The living room is on the left side."

He pointed the room out to them and closed the door, then followed behind. Kim and Ron crossed the treshold into what looked like a typical cluttered, but warm living room, with an old TV on one side and two different sofas encircling a glass table on the other. Various cupboards and bookshelfs lined the wall, all of them stuffed with random things needed for living, books and a lot of framed pictures showing many different happy family occasions. They could even spot a few with a younger Lesley on them, whose orange hair made him stand out from the other people.

They sat down on one sofa, with Lesley standing in front of them, scratching his unruly hair and remembering his manners. "Can I get you anything to drink? Or some snacks maybe?"

"No, we're fine-.." Kim started to say, while at the same time Ron blurted, "Sure thing!" She glared at the blond boy.

"Uh, I mean, we're fine. Right." Sheepishly, Ron sank back onto the sofa.

Before Kim could start saying what they were there for, an older woman glanced into the room. She had brown, curly hair and deep blue eyes, but her face and posture printed 'Mother York' to the two guests in bold letters. Dressed in t-shirt and sweats, she smiled at them warmly. "Oh, guests? I didn't expect anyone. Are they friends from school, Lee?"

"No, they, well, that's Team Possible. You know, the teen heroes? They wanted to speak to me."

Ms. York looked surprised. "Oh. Nice to meet you. I guess, I'll just wait in the kitchen then.."

"No, it's alright, maybe it's better if both of you are here. We just have some questions, nothing serious. But you don't have to answer if you don't want to," Kim explained, watching as mother and son sat down on the other sofa, clearly intrigued. What could a pair of world famous heroes want in their simple house at the weekend?

"Well, how can we help you?" Ms. York asked in a friendly voice. "I hope my dear son remembered his manners."

"I did, mom," Lesley said with a sigh.

"Good boy," the older York commented with motherly affection, before turning back to Team Possible.

The redhead took a deep breath, she might be upsetting buried memories here. "Okay, about a few weeks ago Team Go, which you probably heard about, called me 'cause of an odd situation. They found a girl with a suprising ability which she by all means shouldn't possess. Then, a while after that, another person with a similar power turned up. We don't know how or when they could've gotten this, but it seems there are even more people who can do the same. We started searching and one of the leads pointed to you, Lesley."

The male redhead shuffled even more nervously than before on his seat, while his mother looked at them with her eyebrows drawn together. "What was it that they could do?"

"Their power was different in its performance, but they both had one similarity. Their hands...they would glow in a specific color." Kim observed the Yorks reaction carefully, it was clear that what she told them disturbed them on some level and wasn't news.

"The girls hands glowed pink, the boys ones were turquoise. It was quite neat," Ron added with his natural oblivious happy attitude.

"And they came to you willingly?" Lesley asked in a small voice. Ms. York looked at him with a sad gaze.

"Well, one did. We sort of.. stumbled.. over the other." Kim hesitated, not wanting to tell them that the whole thing had been started with a call from the police. "But Aron, the boy, was quite happy to help us." She smiled encouragingly at him. "Really, having that power is nothing bad. It's not your fault you have it."

"I think it's cool. Man, I'd stop eating the Naco for that!"

"It's no fun, believe me." The male redhead had a pained look in his eyes when he raised his right hand and let it erupt in an orange light. His mother gasped and pressed her fingers against her mouth, looking at the Glow with shock. Lesley grimaced. "I'm so sorry, mom...I told you it was gone, but..." He nodded his head sadly, the light flickering out.

Mrs. York drew in a shuttering breath, then pulled her son towards her in an one-armed hug, placing her cheek on his unbrushed hair. "No, it's alright, Lee... it's alright. I never really believed it was gone....your eyes...I knew, you just wanted to help. To put me at ease. I knew you just hid it, but you did it so well and I stopped thinking about it, I just...forgot.." She pressed her lips together until they formed a thin line, the lines around her eyes more pronounced than ever.

Lesley shared a sheepish look with his mother, then looked at Team Possible. "I believed I was...sick or disabled. I have three older sisters and the other kids were already making fun of me...I didn't want to add another reason for them to pick on me. Then there was this doctor who wanted to do all sorts of tests. But then...my dad died. And we moved and I hid the Glow so Mom didn't have to break her head over that. I'd give you the Glow for free, Ron, if I could." After this, Mrs. York hugged him for another moment, before letting her son go. He was still a guy and it wouldn't help him if she bestowed so much motherly affection om him in front of strangers, even if they were guests.

Deep silence entered the room, while it's occupants followed their own thoughts after that confession. The male part of Team Possible slowly started to realize his error in thinking that the Go Glow was anything but awesome...for the users it was anything but. And now that he thought about it, he had a special power, too...how could he forget his mystical monkey kung fu?

_But I got that, when I was a teenager. And I didn't have strange appearance changings afterwards._ He didn't have to hide those from the rest of the world to not be considered a freak. Ron sighed, feeling like he had just inserted his foot in his mouth. Again.

Kim furrowed her brows, unhappy with the consequences that came with having this strange unexplained power. _What if it _'is' _a genetic defect or mutation?_ That still wouldn't explain the similarities between the Go family and the other kids.

_Gosh, if Trish hadn't tried to play thief for once in her life, we might've never stumbled over _'any'_ of these superpowered teens.._

Letting out a puff of breath, Kim placed her hands on her knees. "We're still not closer to unlocking the secret behind the power... but I promise that Ron and I will do our best to get behind it. We saved the world, we can find a reason for your powers, too. There has to be a link that connects all these events."

"And if there's a link, we'll spot it. Leave it to us, ma'am!" The blonde boy grinned with renewed energy and pointed at himself with his thumb. Rufus chittered and imitated the pose, nodding at his owner's words. That got a chuckle from Mrs. York.

"Lesley, can we call you if anything comes up? Or if we need your help in any way?" Kim asked the teen carefully. He seemed to dislike the powers so much, she didn't know if he'd be willing to help in anything.

But her fears where unfounded, when Lesley nodded confidently. "If I can help, I'd be glad to. It would be nice to be useful with this stuff for a change." A half-hearted grin flittered across his face.

"Thanks, really. I can see now why it's hard for you." Standing up to go, Kim hesitated another moment, when a thought entered her mind. "Say, when did you notice the change, if you don't mind me asking this. Were you born with it?"

"No...no, I don't think so." Lesley furrowed his brows. "I was around.. three years old, I think. Or four?"

"You were three. There was a car accident and a few days after we left the hospital, your eyes changed. It didn't come up again until later, though." Mrs. York added helpfully. "Why, is is important? Does it lead to anything?"

"Not yet, ma'am...but we need all information we can get," the teen hero said, but her gaze was already far away, thinking about the possibilites. She turned to a serious looking Ron.

"Let's check in with Wade."

__________


	3. White Noise

3. White Noise

____________

When Sasha fumbled for the keys in her pocket, her other arm busy holding a paper bag filled to the brim with food, she pleaded with whoever listened that her mother was still at work. Her day hadn't been that bad, just unusually busy, but she needed at least one hour to calm down from the hectic rush of the city.

_One of these days I'll go and get a driver's license.. just so that nobody can ever bump me in the kidneys again, goddamn subway passengers.._ An almost silent growl slipped out from her throat, when she remembered the way back from the university.

Swearing, even if it only happened in her mind, was a sure sign that Sasha was past her 'stress handling' point. What she now wanted was a hot cup of tea, some kitchen utensils for cooking and at least a few dozen minutes for herself. When the door finally clicked open, she stepped over the threshold with a deep, relieved sigh.

"I'm back!" she shouted into the silent hallway. No answer. Which was actually a good sign; if her mother wasn't back now, it meant she was working long hours. _Another three hours of amnesty._

"I'm cooking something for us, Gwyn, then I'll come over to you!" Sasha expected no answer from her brother, knowing he was either asleep or, if not, wouldn't strain his vocal cords to affirm that he had heard. And it wasn't like he was going anywhere.

Quickly, Sasha moved into the kitchen to ease the burden on her arm. The apartment seemed dark and shadowy, since the hallway had no windows and the ones in the kitchen where hidden by curtains, but she was used to the little light the white-turned-yellow fabric allowed into the room. Her mother didn't like it if the neighbours of the other house could see what she was doing and after the last tirade, now over three or four years ago, Sasha hadn't attempted to raise them up again. It wasn't worth the effort.

Ten minutes later, mouth-watering fumes where making their way through the apartment, the smell of spices, chicken and oil floating through the air. The sizzling of the pans, the white clouds from the simmering water, the fragrances of all the things cooking, it all soothed her mind, stripping away the long hours of learning and the stress of hurrying across half the town.

A smile found it's way on her lips, when she took a deep sip of the freshly brewed fruit tea. _Gwyn loves Thai chicken. I'm sure eating it will make him happy today._ He had been so very weak yesterday and complaining in a soft voice about the pain in his bones. If he was voicing his distress, it had to hurt him intensely, otherwise her stubborn brother would have endured it in silence.

_It's getting worse._ She swallowed a lump in her throat, willing herself to move. _Time for Thai chicken._

While the preperations kept her mind of things, time slipped by unseen. When Sasha looked at the clock without counting minutes until the next ingredient had to be added, but to realize what time of the day it actually was, more than three quarters of an hour had passed. Dividing everything cooked onto three different colored dishes, and placing one of them into the microwave for later, Sasha made her way over to Gwyn's room.

Seeing her brother was both a curse and a blessing. She loved him like only a twin could, even staying at home to help taking care of him instead of moving into a room closer to the university, although her mother would refuse to pay for such a thing anyway. But seeing him like this, so unlike his former self, made a dull ache in her heart and stomach grow worse every time.

_If only I could take his place...he should be the one standing, enjoying life. There's so much he could've done, so much he could have achieved._

Placing the tablet with the dishes down on a table in front of his room, she put a hand on the door handle. Take a deep breath, paint a smile on your face, don't let him see you suffer. _I can handle Mom these days, I'm a grown up, an adult. He needs to see that._

"Hey Gwynners, guess what I made for you? You get three attempts..." the young woman happily announced when she opened the door to step into the only room in the apartment that was filled with the light of the late afternoon sun, which shone directly into her face. Sasha squinted her eyes, finding the slumped figure on the bed that stood right under the window. "If you get it right on the first try, we can negotiate about a dess-...Gwyn?!"

Rushing over to her twin, she saw him grasping at his head, the long, bony fingers of one hand pressed against his temples, the other twisting the top part of his pyjamas. He was gasping, the white linen of his shirt soaked with sweat. Softly Sasha petted his hair, crouching next to where he was sitting up in bed.

"Gwyn...please, tell me, what's wrong? Do you need more pain killers?! Should I call Mom?" Tears in her eyes threatened to spill over, but she ruthlessly forced them down, there would be time for crying later. Her brother needed help, but she didn't know what to do, how to chase away what troubled him. Of course, the doctor had told her how much medication to give him and even how to use the syringe. There were a dozen numbers to call for a dozen different symptoms if anything happened, Sasha had read them out loud to herself until she knew each one by heart.

But to do something, she needed to know what in heaven's name was _wrong_ with her sick brother.

"Where does it hurt?" Her voice sounded pleading and desperate, she just needed one word or even a pointing of his hand. Was it his head? Or his lungs? Or maybe even his heart? What if he died this second and it was her fault because she hadn't reacted quickly enough? "Oh please, please, tell me!" _Should I stay and help? Should I go and call the doctor?! _

Gwyn's rasping breath came in short bursts, his chest heaving. But while Sasha stroked his hair and back, on the verge of panicking, he seemed to ease up a little, then more after every minute that went by. After what seemed like hours to his sister, only the cold sweat on his skin told about the attack on his health.

Relief flooded Sasha's every cell when she saw him getting better, although there now was a fear in the back of her mind that would never ever fade away again. This was just the foreboding of things to come, since the doctor had affirmed that the young man would only get worse, not better. One day, this bed would be empty and cold.

She took a seat on the edge of the mattress, her eyes warmly gazing at the thin form of her twin, watching him recover. A long time ago his hair had been the same deep shade of brown, bordering on black, like her own. Now his long tresses, not as full and thick as they once had been, were a soft shade of white only found on old people. His muscles and sinews stood out in sharp relief against the pure porcelain skin, gone was the athletic tanned form of the former basketball player.

Even his eyes had changed. Having turned from deep grey to an intense soft blue that rivaled the sky on a cloudless sunny day, they had lost the light that once shone so bright and brought so much joy to everyone around him. Gwyn was the white shadow of the person he had once been and would never be again. The process of the illness had taken years and with each gone by, the color of his body had faded away with the substance of his soul.

_My personal court jester. My stupid trouble maker. My only, beloved brother._

"God, Gwyn...if only..." The whisper slipped out of her before she could stop it and she bit her lip to keep herself in check. She needed to make the rest of the life he had left worth living, which meant staying supportive and upright. Sasha remembered what he had told her once: that she was the one glowing spot in his life, his pillar of strength and comfort. They were twins and they had sworn to take care of each other, whatever happened.

"I'll watch out for you," the young woman added softly and placed her hand on his shoulder and a kiss on his bowed head, feeling his sharp bones in her hand. Looking towards the door, she readied herself to stand up. _I need another PJ for him, before we eat._

A spider thin hand grabbed her wrist urgently. When Sasha turned, surprised by his move, she found her brother looking at her with such a sad, desperate look in his eyes, that the hidden fear in her mind rushed to the front.

"Sasha...Sasha, I am so, so sorry." There was so much helpless _agony_ in his soft, quiet voice, that a tear slipped across her cheek before she realized it.

Opening her mouth to ease his pain, to sooth him and herself with nice words, something grabbed the corner of her world, yanked forcibly and slammed it onto the ground, smashing it into a million pieces.

An unknown force flooded her body and mind in the blink of an eye, so freezing cold that it scorched her veins and nerves like liquid fire. Blinding white light erupted in the inside of her eyes and she screamed, the pain almost unbearable. Second after second it streamed through her flesh, it felt as if her blood had turned from liquid into glass splinters.

Forcing her eyes open, she tried to find Gwyn, the only stable anchor in the twirl of madness that rushed through her head.

But all she found was a lifeless body, slumped across the pillow, his lids open and his eyes empty and cold. They would never smile at her again.

"No...no.." she sobbed, grabbing her head out of fear it might break apart. Pain shot in thumping rivulets through her body. "No..not my brother, not now...please, please! No!"

But he was gone and suddenly the walls seemed to close in on her, suffocating her already gasping lungs. It didn't feel like an apartment in the third floor anymore, now it was as if she was caught in a tiny hole hundreds of miles below the ground, stone all around her, threatening her, crushing her.

Sasha stumbled out of her _dead dead dead_ twins room, reality going vertical. She crashed into the Thai chicken plates, the porcelain breaking apart on the floor, cutting open her right hand. She didn't even feel it, she swam in an ocean of agony. Crawling onwards on all fours, she finally found her footing near the entrance door.

What she needed was air. Just a bit of air. Maybe then the horrible thundering in her mind would stop and the sickening vertigo, too. Sasha stumbled out of the door, then down the stairs like a drunk, forgetting the fact that she had neither money nor keys. But a gulp of fresh air was all she could think about. And getting out of these horriblewalls, which came closer and closer with every step she made towards her goal.

_Shit, this hurts so much!_ Sasha pressed harder against her temples.

Then, light all around her when she flew out of the house entrance, the sounds of the street crashing over her in a wave of noise and pain. Cars rushing past and honking, people talking and ignoring her disheveled state, dogs barking, music blasting out of an open apartment window. Sasha stood on the street and didn't know which way to go with her vision going topsy-turvy and her mind laying in shambles.

_-..going to tell him tomorrow....then I have to...the new one looks good...put the last glass...-_

But this was more than just the normal level of noise. Staggering against a wall, the young woman looked at an elderly lady. _-...such a nice day for going to the park. Maybe I should have called Elvira, she gets out so little and that can't be good for her heal-...-_

Sasha turned, barely making out a young boy with an ipod passing by. -..._so cool, I totally dig it. Got to ask my bro' to dl me a few more of that..-_

Turning. A middle aged woman in a business dress suit. -_...to tell him one more time, he's going to get fired. This is the last time! God, I can't stand that stupid motherfu-...-_

A mother with a kid. -.._.has to help me with Kevin. I just can't do it all alone. And with the bills coming in this is getting harder every...-_

Sasha pressed the balls of her hands against her eyes until multicolored sparks danced on her retina, nausea making her stomach heave. _What happened? Gwyn, help me, what in god's name happened to me?!_

_Need to get away. Need to get away from here. This is just too much._

With a frantic whimper, she pushed herself from the wall, making her way to the cross-walk, the need to flee overlaying every other sensation that cursed through her searing, shivering cold body. But the whispers in her mind got worse, soon tuning out every other sound around her. Sasha didn't need to look at them anymore, the thoughts of dozens of people entering her head unbidden, getting louder and more bewildering until thousand different voices fused together to create a crushing roar of noise.

_-...whathesaidwasdoitreallyafterworkgreatpartytomorrowgodshe'ssohotmaybetwotomatos...-_

_-...NEEDTOBUYMARMELADECALLEDTHELAWYERBUTBEFORETHEGAMEWAS...-_

_-..__**GREATDIDN'TTHINKHE'DDOITMILKATHOMEWEATHERHOLDINGUNTILJUSTANOTHERMISTAKEDOMYHOMEWORK**__..-_

She pressed her hands harder until she thought that either her head would explode from the pressure against her temples or burst from whatever had forced it's way inside her brain. A scream tore itself from her throat, she closed her eyes and screamed and screamed until it shattered the roar inside her skull, making way for the high whine of a sound that felt like the one between two radio stations and the one created by a high frequency mixed together.

Again, blinding white light erupted on the inside of her eyes when she stood in the middle of the cross-walk, until she was engulfed in only it's bright intensity and the white noise. Then there was black and then...

Nothing.

_______

"Shego! Come and hand me a screwdriver, I have to hold the parts together!"

The green villain flinched at the annoying shout coming from the lab. _The things I do for my paycheck.._ "Yeah, yeah, Dr. D., calm down, I'm coming."

Her employer was hunched over a strange pile of mechanical parts that looked as if they were thrown together by mere coincidence. Two plates stuck out towards the ceiling, the manical doctor having a hard time pushing them together, because the pieces simply didn't fit against each other. Whatever he was building, it seemed to reach a new idiotic height.

"Okay, what the hell is _that_ going to be? A new paperweight? Please say it's a paperweight. I would even support art as an excuse."

"No! No, it's...ugh...a Final Line Universal Nano Katalysator! I was struck by my incredible genius..huff... this night and just had to try it out!" He send a happy grin over his shoulder, the whole.. thing shifting dangerously. On the wall, the tv was adding it's backround noise.

Shego slapped a gloved hand against her face. "Great, a stupid machine whose capitals add up to a wrongly spelled flunk. I can totally see that working."

"See! I knew you would get it!...The screwdriver, Shego."

"How about a wagon load of tape?" his employer muttered darkly and dangled the wanted item next to his face between two fingers. "Here, glad I could help today, I hope that's all for now."

A groaning emitted from the pile of parts. A drop of sweat rolled down the blue man's face. "Uh, Shego...a little help here?.."

"Nah, not in my contract. Building the dooms day machine is your job. I'm just the paid sidekick, Dr. D." An evil smirk grazed her lips.

The groan turned into a metallic screeching, when the two long parts scrapped against each other and made their way towards the floor. The pile broke together, dozens of different parts flying in every direction, pushed apart by the heavy weight of the crashing plates. When the dust had settled, the doctor and his employee stood a few metres away, Shego having dragged them out of immediate danger.

Drakken whimpered. "My precious F.L.U.N.C.!" He ran over towards what was left of the heap.

"This isn't even worth a sarcastic remark." Shego rolled her eyes, placing her hands on her hips. "So, we done here now?"

With a sniff, Drakken hugged a demolished blinking block of metal against his chest. "Oh, well...I guess so. Since the amnesty, I didn't have time to build anything, with all the TV shows and speeches and world touring..." He droned on, the gleam of his eyes remembering the time where his fame as a world saver hadn't yet faded.

"Yeah, yadda yadda, I get it.." Shego waved a hand, turning towards the open doors, already planning to spend the rest of her day either in the tub, on the couch or in the training room. Though the tub seemed like a tempting idea..

"Ah, Shego, I remember something that might be interesting for you. What was it?...oh, about new Go Glows turning up, I guess some info on Global Justice leaked, since there are spys everywh-...gah!"

Finding himself one foot above the floor, the doctor let go of the machine part in his shock. He was staring into two very unamused, glowing green eyes. "WHAT did you say?!"

"Well...uh...I...read it on yesterday, there wasn't much...you would think Evil and Villain really is a bit over the top, since villains actually are already evil, but maybe it's to emphasize the evilness of the word villain..."

With a frustrated growl, Shego shook her employer with both of her hands. "Drakken! Spill or fry, _NOW!_" Small green flames danced over the fabric of her bicolored gloves.

"T-t-they said some teens or y-young adults turned up, with glows exactly like those your family has! GJ doesn't have much information, actually, no one has much information, it just seems like it's a fact! Put me down, please?" He tried to look down at her with a nervous smile.

But Shego was already calculating the truth of what the internet site had written. It was just a site, and while really had often solid news for the underworld, there where no facts to back this one up. New Go Glows turning up on the spot? Maybe someone wanted to mess with her.. "There is no way this can be t-.." She stopped.

"Yeah, I mean, it's probably just a flunk, he he, flunk, get it?...uhm...I just thought it might be interesting for you and..."

"Shhh! Be quiet!" she hissed at him. Drakken snapped his mouth shut.

Now he could hear what had gotten Shego's attention. With an awkward turn of his head, he looked over to the tv.

"...ambulance has reached the scene of accident after only a few minutes. New numbers count to twenty-seven victims affected by what specialists have named the "psychic bomb". The comatose people are placed under special care in the local hospitals. It is yet unclear, if the happenings were the outcome of a planned assault or are a yet unknown new illness spreading in the city. Dr. True, the researcher on site, counts out the theory on a unidentified virus. "_When the 'psychic bomb' erupted, not only people were taken out. All the electronics in a specific radius stopped functioning, too. I am quite sure that this was planned before hand._" The police released this surveillance video and would be thankful for every information you could offer for the identification of the assailant, who has fleed the scene."

The picture of the news reporter switched with what seemed a grainy video of what happened at the scene, the camera pointing at the sidewalk of an electronic store. Half the cross-walk of the street was shown, too. For about two seconds nothing unusual occured, but then a figure staggered into view, almost looking like a drunk female teenager. From what little could be seen, the figure screamed in obvious pain, even though the video was without sound.

Then her hands glowed with a flickering white light. A wave of something that looked like white compressed air erupted from her in a circular motion, sweeping across the street, people collapsing when touched by it. A second later it hit the camera and static followed.

"A...Go Glow.." Shego whispered half-questioning, half in stupor.

"Ha! See, I was right...umpf!" Drakken hit the floor with a thud when his employee let go of his coat. All he could see was her striding out of the main room in quick, broad strikes. "Shego! Wait, I still need you here!"

"Stow it! I'm out!" The door to the hangar slammed against the wall with a loud crack.

Drakken picked himself up from the ground, rubbing his abused behind while grumbling along the way. "This is what I get for paying her...first she wants me to talk, then she wants me to shut up, can't decide what she wants, that darn woman...has to be that time of the month again..."

He decided it was time for a nice hot cup of cocoa-moo, before taking care of what was left of his great F.L.U.N.C....well, maybe he'd even think about a new name.

_______

_Beep beep be-beep_

"Fire away, Wade, we're listening." Two smiling faces bowed across the screen of the Kimmunicator.

"You won't believe it guys, but there's another Glow user. Turned up about thirty seconds ago, the news are running hot. Here, watch this, I tapped it for you." The teen turned in his chair and hit a number of buttons, the video playing in another one of his many monitors. He could see their reactions in the main one, while they watched what happened on the little gadget.

He could hear Ron's exclaimed "Whoa.." coming out of the speakers and switched the Kimmunicator screen back to his own face, giving the Team a serious look. "Pretty bad, huh?"

"Anyone got hurt?"

"You could argue 'bout that...twenty-seven people in a coma, but otherwise they're fine. It's just their brain waves that've gone all gaga. You want the cords? The girl's still untraceble."

"Please and thank you, Wade," the redhead answered with a smile.

"So we don't know who she is?" Ron asked, his face getting bigger when he pushed his head towards the screen.

"The quality of the video isn't good enough for a face identification. And all the eyewitnesses are...unavailable. Seems like you need to do it the old fashioned way."

Ron scrunched his nose up. "Which would be?"

"Searching by foot," Kim and Wade said in a chorus.

"Aw man.."

___________

The green villainess flew the hovercraft through the air at full speed. Shego recognized the name of the town, which she had snatched up during Drakken's blabbering, so she didn't have to waste time searching for it on the maps. It wasn't far enough away for her to take a jet, but still so far, that she grew more and more nervous with every ten minute marker.

_And I need to be there before the police, or worse, GJ or the princess snatch her up. God damn it, fly faster!_

Shego was still in some kind of wary denial, but she hadn't lived with a superpower for at least 15 years to not recognize the signs of it in an instant. While flying, she tried to get her mind of the journey that still lay ahead by searching the internet for more information and repeatedly watching the video.

wrote only what she already knew: GJ had found at least one, maybe more, people with a functioning Go Glow. That's all what the gossip inside the organization brought up. Searching further, she hacked into her brothers business computer, which was still so weakly defended, that the ex-hero even used some of her old passwords to get into the data stream.

It caused her to roll her eyes, but at least this was where she found some news. Shego skipped over the entry. "...found a young girl, around seventeen, with a pink Glow...not related to anyone of the family...not yet recognized kinetic abilitys..." _Huh._

That was all she could get thanks to her quick search. Maybe more would turn up once she found the girl that had been using the unidentified Glow an hour ago. _If it really IS one._

While the hovercraft speed across the country, the sun made it's way across the sky. Soon the light turned golden and it was only one or two hours away before dusk would settle. As a practised thief, Shego didn't mind the added shield from unwanted eyes, she could use the cover of darkness to her advantage. From time to time she switched on the radio to see if there were some news, but the girl was still in hiding and thus, unfound.

_Good for me. They probably don't even know where to search._

Finally the green woman reached the intersection of the city where the accident had happened. Turning on the invisibility of her flying vehicle, Shego observed the ongoings down in the street. No ambulance could be seen, but the victims, which were unharmed but in a deep coma, were already shipped of to the hospitals hours ago. The police had closed off the whole block and now searched every corner and alley between the buildings.

Surprisingly, Shego could spot a mortuary car between all the hustle. _She didn't kill anyone, did she? The news didn't say something about a dead victim.._

Pushing that thought aside, she searched for the very spot where the 'psychic bomb' had gone off. It wasn't hard to find. There were at least twenty white clad figures busy taking notes and talking around an extra closed off cross-walk. That was her starting target. Now she just...

A red head and a blond walked into her line of vision. With a growl, the villainess slammed a fist on her leg. _Damn, I knew it. But seems like they just started, too. I still have time._

_Focus, Shego._ Closing her eyes, she leaned back into her seat and delved into a part of her mind and memories she hardly touched these days. And with reason. Her past was a part of her the woman tried to avoid at all costs.

_I remember being scared...scared and alone_..

After the comet hit her family, Shego had fallen unconcious. But not for very long...a few minutes later, the pain in her limbs had woken her up. She had found herself lying in a deep crater made by the comet, the space rock itself destroyed the second it hit the earth. There wasn't even any debris of the house left, only the five figures of the siblings had remained behind. Or rather, their changed forms.

There had been an intense urge to flee in her mind. To walk away from what happened, to not see and feel what had transpired. _Maybe I thought that once I had run far enough, if I returned then anything would be as it was before._ Things couldn't switch back if she was lying there, watching it. Watched water would never start boiling, as her mother had put it.

The villainess shuddered, the past made her head hurt and left a bad taste in her mouth. Back to the present.

_She didn't run anywhere safe or any place close that she knew.. she just ran far away._

Shego hoped that the reaction to getting those powers was the same as her own had been, it was all she could work with. Trying to remember the last seconds of the video stream, the green woman steered the hovercraft in another direction.

The girl had been in pain. Working the cells of her brain, Shego concentrated on the moment after the burst. _She fell to her hands and knees, but didn't black out, if I remember correctly._

Flipping a mental coin, she choose the part of town that was full of small alley ways and tall buildings, with few shops and a large population of impersonal business people. If you wanted to hide without being acknowledged, this was the right place. Since the girl had had about three hours to get away without being spotted so far, it was a better start than nothing.

Once there, the thief placed the hovercraft in the middle of the business district in the backyard of an old fabric. With light fading fast, it was a moot point to search the streets from above, when she could be much quicker and more agil on her own two feet.

_Come out, come out, wherever you are.._ With a quick flip, the stealthy woman vanished into the shadows.

______

"So we have a big city with at least 50.000 residents and we're searching for exactly... one. That's like the famous needle in the hay."

"Oh, stop complaining. Just imagine, there is a girl out there who has these powers and is probably scared out of her mind. And it's not going to hurt you to walk a few meters," Kim joked and poked her boyfriend into the side.

"Hey! No poking the Ronster!"

"So, ready to go?"

The blonde boy slumped his shoulders and started walking. "Sure thing, Kim."

Twenty minutes later they weren't that much smarter than before. Sitting on the curb stone, they both let out a deep sigh. "Looks like we really have to walk through the whole city. There is no clue whatsoever."

"We have no name, no face, no starting point. She could be anywhere," Ron mumbled, placing his head in his hands.

"There has to _some_thing.." Kim rubbed her brows, concentrating on anything they had found out until now. Next to her, Ron got up, dusting off his pants.

"I'm gonna ask a few more people, maybe we're lucky now." He walked down the street, hands in his pockets and tried to think whom to talk to. Neither the police nor the science guys could help them now in any way. And the hospital could not estimate when one of the patients would wake up, or if at all. _I wonder what happened. That didn't look like a power you'd wanna have._

He almost bumped into a middle aged woman, who stood next to the apartment complex, sniffing. "Whoa, sorry there, lady."

"And what do you want? I don't have spare coins, so get lost," she snapped at him, her eyes puffy and red, as if she had been crying moments ago.

Ron flinched, holding up his hands in a meek gesture. "I don't want any spare change, ma'am...I'm sorry, are you alright? Can I help you in any way?" Even though she looked as if she wanted to get angry at him again, he pitied the raw hurt and sadness that swam in her gaze. His compassionate nature won over and he stepped closer.

The dark haired woman sniffed again, rubbing her eyebrows and whipping away a new tear. "Nothing _you_ could change. I just came home to find my sick son finally having succumbed to his illness and my daughter gone. Stupid girl just ran away without even closing the damn front door."

That was when Ron realized he was standing close to a mortuary car and he pushed down the urge to jump away with a yelp. That would be so not helping right now. "Gosh, I'm so sorry ma'am...I.. guess that won't help you very much, but you have my deepest sympathy. Maybe we can find your daugther for you?"

She looked him up and down, as if now acknowledging his presence for the first time. "If you want to. I don't really give a fuck at the moment. She could've called me, that damn air head." He flinched at her use of language. "Go ahead, search for her and bring her back, but she can sleep on the goddamn street today if it were for me."

"Uh..yeah, what's her name? I guess she lived here with you?"

"Sasha. Sasha Mahoney. Third floor in the building, if you really want to know. Now leave me alone, I'm not up to small talk about that damned girl."

Ron nodded hastily, saying a quick good bye before turning back to his girlfriend. He got a glimpse of two men carrying a stretcher with a covered person on it out of the door, and when the woman, Mrs. Mahoney he guessed, burst into fresh tears, he knew what was under the blanket. Even though he didn't approve of the way she talked about her daugther, the sidekick still felt a sting of pain for her grief.

_No mother should carry her child to the grave._

"Hey KP, we have another mission while we're searching. Looks like Mrs. Mahoney over there not only lost her son, but her daugther Sasha ran away, too. Maybe we can keep an eye out for her."

Kim looked up to him, torn out of her thoughts. "Yeah, sure...wait, stop, what?"

He pointed to the weeping woman. "Her son just died. Poor woman...even though she has a nasty mouth, but I guess that's understandable at the moment. Her daugther, Sasha, ran away today without closing the front door, probably out of shock to find her brother dead."

Kim squinted her eyes at Mrs. Mahoney. "Do you think it's a strange coincidence that the girl we are searching for and the woman over there are both black haired?"

"I...uhm...don't know? I didn't watch the video _that_ well.."

Kim was already clicking on her Kimmunicator. "Hey Wade, are all the victims of the bomb identified?"

"Gimme a moment..." The boy wonder concentrated his attention onto another display, furious typing could be heard. "Okay, I'm in the hospital computer. Let's see...yeah, I have the files here. All twenty-seven."

"Is there a Sasha Mahoney under them?"

"No, there is no Sasha and no Mahoney here. Why? Got a trail?"

"Could be.. Sasha Mahoney ran away today and if my hunch is right, she's the one we are searching for. Twice as much now."

"Ah, NOW I get it! She might be the Glow user!" Ron added, a light bulb in his head flickering on. "Good thinking, KP!"

"I try to get some infos about her, it's best if you start combing the city for her now." Wade gave them a thumbs up sign, then the display turned black.

"It's not a good idea to ask Mrs. Mahoney more questions now, is it?" Kim asked quietly, sadly watching the woman, who was looking after the sleek black car holding the body of her son with a heart-tearing expression.

"Better not. Come on, let's walk. You could use the training."

"Very funny, Ron."

________

There were maybe twenty minutes of sunlight left. Shego had systematically searched the district for any trace, there were about two blocks left before she had to try another part of the town. But something told her that this was the right place. A gut feeling maybe.

The thief jumped down a wall, sprinting down the street as she looked into every little nook she ran past. Nothing.

_It can't be...I just know this is the right place. I'm missing something._ Tuning up all her senses to their highest level, she closed her eyes and slowed down. She took a deep breath through her nose, letting it out slowly through her lips. Carefully she strained her ears, the cold air prickling on her skin.

Wait.

Cold air?

_The day was warm. There is no wind._ Opening her eyes, Shego followed the soft cold breeze she could feel caressing her cheek. It seemed out of place and it tingled at a place in the back of her mind, which equaled a warning bell going of in her head.

Turning around, two steps later she stood in front of a wall and a big trash container. Shego had ran past it, because she had searched at eye level and at full speed, so the container had successfully hidden the entry into a small alley. Pushing the metallic object to the side, a big gap could be seen between two high buildings, which were connected by a wall that stopped about one or two inches above her head.

Behind that, a cold breeze brushed her skin. _Bingo._

The alley was about twenty feet long, then there was a turn to the right side. The thief suspected that the dead end was behind that. Moving forward silently, she stopped when she had reached the corner.

Under the hand that she had placed against the stone, Shego could see a strange phenomenon clinging against it. A black substance clung to the wall, something between ice and crystal and not bigger or thicker than her hand. It stuck there on the height of her face and twined along until it vanished behind the edge, either ending on that side or going on. Where she had placed her fingers on it, the hard substance emitted a light coldness.

_So that's where the cold air comes from._ There had to be more on the crossing alley.

Shego counted to ten in her head and turned the corner.

The first things she saw where more trash containers of any form and height, while the stone and metal had more of the black crystalized ice clinging to it. An air duct at the end blew out the used air of the buiding, pushing the coldness of the black substance onward and out to the street, where Shego had felt it. A quick sweep of the whole place brought up two legs and knees, half hidden between two of the trash holders. The villainess could see two hands holding the legs close to the body, more or less relaxed. She had been silent enough that the girl hadn't heard her coming. _That's her, I'm sure of it._

"Hey there, kiddo. Need a lift?"

The hands on the jeans tensed. A slight whimper made it's way to Shego. "W-who's there?"

Slowly, the thief stepped forward, until hunter and prey could look at each other. What she found sitting there, made her raise her eyebrows in surprise.

What she had seen on the video wasn't much but enough to recognize her, for details it had been too grainy and far away. But this was no kid. She guessed it was a young woman around twenty. The run-away was dressed in faded jeans and sneakers, with an uni-colored white t-shirt on top, nothing unusual. The thing that surprised her was the... white _bleach_ on the womans head.

While her normal hair looked black, maybe even deep brown, and her skin was sun tanned, it looked as if someone had thrown a small waterbomb filled with white colour at her skull. The right side of her hair had turned from black to snow white and the skin was just as pale as Shego's own, just without the green hue. The strange condition began in the middle of her head, crawled down in an uneven line between her eyebrows, down the right side of her nose and turned towards the back of her head just under her right ear. It had even turned the right eye from it's normal light grey to an unnaturally and disturbingly intense, bright blue.

"W-why are you looking at me like that? Go away." Red-rimmed eyes spoke of recent crying. There was panic written across her face, the fear and sorrow in the run-away's iris making her look younger than she was. There were a few red spots on her jeans and her right hand was smeared with blood. _Looks like a cut, but we can fix that at the lair._

"Look, I just want to help you, okay? I'm the same as you." Shego crouched down in front of her. Psycho talk really wasn't her forte, but maybe it was enough to make the woman come with her. "Here, see. Same glowing, different color." She held out her gloved hands, willing the green flicker to life with barely a thought. When she saw the other one flinch, she snuffed them out again. "I'm not gonna hurt ya', you know."

"W-what do you mean 'help me'?" Her voice was full of distrust and the fear that already showed in her face."I'm n-not going to show you that...that..whatever it is!"

"I can get you away from here, where you will be safe. The police is after you and it's just a matter of time before they get here. Or do you want to go back home?" That brought on a fresh wave of tears and Shego knew, that she'd hit a nerve. But it was a nerv she could use to her advantage. "I'll get you out of here, you don't have to go back. Come on, take my hand and we're off, cookie."

There was an internal war going on behind the two-colored eyes, but when the woman's fingers twitched, Shego knew she had won. Holding her arm out in a silent invitation, another hand snatched hers a moment later. "Can I trust you?" came the meek voice again.

Shego swallowed down a dark chuckle. "Sure. We're both girls, freaks with glowing hands and on the run. I'd call that bonding on first glance," she lied with ease. Dragging her new companion onto her feet, the thief started running down the alley and towards her hovercraft, only stopping to look for police or the annoying hero team. But rush hour had started just moments ago, so there were enough people running around that no one glanced at them twice.

They reached the hovercraft without a glitch, the other woman a bit out of breath from the long run. When Shego decloaked the aircraft, there was a shocked gasp behind her. "Wait!...Y-you're Shego?!"

"That was quick. Don't worry, the 'I won't hurt you' is still on the line, so hop in. What's your name by the way?" the green woman asked, while her companion placed her foot in Shego's hands, so she could heave her up into the hovercraft without the run-away having to use her injured hand.

"S-sasha."

"So Sasha, what's with the stuttering?" The thief jumped after her, taking her rightful place as pilot.

"D-don't know."

_Great. A shivering kitten is exactly what I needed._ Shego rolled her eyes and started the aircraft, quickly gaining height. Sascha sat down in the small back, not bothering to use one of the seats. A quick glance behind her told the villainess that the woman had pulled her legs close and hid her face behind her knees. Her shoulders shook, she was crying again.

_You've been in the same spot once, girl, maybe you should be a wee bit nicer to her._

She glanced at Sasha again, then looked forward, puffing a black lock of hair out of her eyes. "Try to sleep a bit, we're flying for a while. There is a blanket under the middle seat, if you're cold," the thief then said in a softer voice.

There was rustling behind her and what sounded like a whispered 'Thanks', then silence again. They flew like that for the next hour.

_______


	4. Supplementary Situations

4. Supplementary Situations

_____________

Sasha dove into a sitting position, out of breath and wide eyed. _Just a dream. It was all just a dream._ The notion calmed the run-away until she realized that the room she was placed in wasn't her own.

With the illusion shattered, the young woman let herself fall back against the headboard of her bed. The last thing she remembered was flying through the night in the cramped space of the flying vehicle... its low humming sound calming down her frazzled nerves and finally ushering her exhausted mind to sleep. Images of the day assailed her and she willed herself not to cry. Placing her thumb and forefinger against the corners of her eyes, Sascha took a shuddering breath.

The tears came anyway.

Sobbing for a minute or two made her throat and heart ache, so she concentrated on getting herself under control and skimmed the place around her, wipping the wetness from her cheeks with her palms.

_It..looks like an infirmary._ The rough texture on her skin alerted her to her freshly bandaged hand and she looked at the fresh linen with a confused expression. There were four other empty beds lined next to her against the wall.

The sound of a door opening made her flinch, fear coursing through her veins. She was in a place she didn't recognize and completely alone, no wonder her nervousness was rising up.

"Ah, my dear, you're awake!" Boots shuffled across the spotless floor. In her line of vision, Sascha could see a small man in a white lab coat coming closer to her.

Her fear evaporated. The lab-coat wearing, older man, which she believed to be the doctor, had an easy-going, friendly smile on his face and warm brown eyes that made her feel at ease. There was no malice coming from his clever gaze and the hair that was left on his half-balding head was white and whispy, just like cotton candy. Even though she felt as vulnerable as a five-year old at the moment, there was a sense of trust she could find by looking at him. What helped was that the assumed doctor wasn't much taller than the bed posts.

"You were quite lucky, dear. One inch deeper and the cut on your hand would have injured your sinews, but this way I just needed to use some stitches. How are you feeling?"

Taking a moment to do an internal tour of her body, the woman spoke very slowly. "Exhausted...tired. Sad and confused." She gazed at him with a weary expression.

"Ah, there, there," he tutted, patting the knee hidden by the blanket. "Some of that a good nights sleep can cure. You'll feel better in the morning, I'm sure."

"I..don't think I can sleep right now.." While her body felt like lead, her mind tumbled over itself to get the traumatic events under control. "I don't even know where I am." At least she felt a lot calmer than she had in the streets or during the fly. Maybe they had given her something to help her relax while she was out. That would explain while she hadn't woken up during the fixing of her hand.

"The last one is a small bit I can, thankfully, help you with. You're in the sickbay of Dr. Drakken's lair, under the special care of the wonderful professor doctor Percival Rimus," he answered in a jovial voice and with a smile that Sasha couldn't help but return. "But everyone calls me Doc Rimus, dear. Please, no primus jokes. I was third in my class."

"I'm Sasha Mahoney.. thank you, for taking care of me." Being polite was in her veins, it came naturally.

The small man chuckled. "That's my job and my passion, so you don't have to thank me. Although it's a welcome change from the moaning and whining of the henchmen; dear lord, ill men are the worst patients. Crying like sissies over a stubbed toe or a cold." He shook his whispy haired head, then turned towards a wall console. "If you're awake anyway, mind if I call Shego? She requested to talk to you, once you woke up. I can tide her over until the morning, if you still need some time."

Sasha sighed, rubbing her head. She could feel small bruises forming where she had pressed her hands too much against the skin and bone. "No, it's fine... you can call her." Now that she thought about it, it was probably a local anesthetic, since she felt no pain coming from the cutting wound. _Funny what you think about when you're probably under shock._

The Doc waited another second, before nodding and punching in a number. A small light flashed first red, then green, before it went out. "She should be here in a minute. Do you need anything else? Maybe anything to eat or drink?"

Wanting to refuse, the run-away found her throath perched uncomfortably dry. But using the friendly doctor as an errand runner seemed rude. Doc Rimus could see the conflict she was in and held up a reprimanding finger, brown eyes twinkling.

"Nothing against asking someone nicely for a glass of water. You're the patient, I'm the doctor, so spit it out, young lady, before I wake the henchmen to cook up a whole bankett for you."

Fighting back a grin, Sasha carefully said, "Some water would be very nice, thank you. I'm not hungry." _I wouldn't keep it down anyway._

When the doctor left the room with a satisfied nod, the bay doors hissed open and revealed the green-black-clad woman stroding confidently over towards the occupied bed. Now that Sasha could fully see the villainess in the harsh light of the artificial lamps for the first time, she felt highly intimidated. Shego oozed confidence, arrogance, sensuality and danger, the bored look on her fine features not easing up the fact that her presence took over the whole room. With her hand falling from her hip, the older woman plopped down an a chair standing next to the wall.

"Nice time to be awake, cookie, it's three in the morning."

Sasha swallowed, not really knowing what to answer without sounding dumb. Instead she fiddled with the fabric of her bandaged hand.

"Okay, that was much. No angry comeback? You had a lot more spunk in the alley way."

"I'm not good with witty replies.." Sasha mumbled and looked down at her legs. "It's not like I stumble across a super villain every day."

Shego snorted unlady-like. While she seemed relaxed, bored and lazy, it didn't seem to dim the fact that she was drop-dead gorgeous, her attitude only enhancing that fact in its stark contrast. "Well, at least the stuttering stopped. And it's super _villainess_. So, you know why you're here?"

Before the younger woman could reply, Doc Rimus came back with a glass of sparkling water. While he shuffled over to place the glass in the hands of a thankful Sasha, he smiled at the green woman. "Ah, good evening, Shego. Or is it good morning? Good night would sound a bit out of place, I think."

The villainess send him an amused grin. "Good to see you up and about, Doc R."

Turning towards Sasha, the small man lowered his voice theatrically. "My favourite patient. A mouth like a sailor, but at least she does what I tell her to."

Shego let out a laugh, folding her arms in front of her. "Ha, you're just still annoyed I annihilated you at poker."

"Spot on, my dear. I'm a sore loser. I leave you two ladies alone now, an old man needs his beauty sleep... no comment on that Shego." He pointed at her with squinted eyes, when the thief held up her hands in mock innocence. Once the door closed, the villainess turned towards Sasha again, clearly awaiting an answer.

A few moments of silence passed, while idle hands fiddled with the empty glass. Sasha cleared her throat self-conscious.

"Because...because I have a...Glow or what you called it? That's why I'm here, right?"

"Yeah, quite right. And I want to know how or when you got it." The scrutinizing gaze Shego prodded her with made the younger woman even more uncomfortable.

Sighing deeply, Sasha dragged her legs up, so she was sitting cross-legged, resigning herself to her fate. She _had _come willingly, maybe this was the price. "I have no idea how I got them. They acted up the first time when I was... eight or nine. Scared the heck out of me, I couldn't stop crying out of shock. My..." she stopped, turning her face away, the pain of remembering robbing her of her breath. Once she had herself back under control, she went on. "..my brother, Gwyn, advised me to keep them hidden, or to not use them again. He wanted to keep me safe." Rubbing her slightly burning eyes, the run-away felt more drained than ever.

Shego furrowed her brows. "So no multicolored comet was involved in any way?"

Sasha looked at her strangely. The thief looked back. "Uh...no?"

"So there was no strange event that you can think of, which might have been responsible for you getting these powers?" Shego prodded further. The want, no, the _need_ to know burned in her unearthly green eyes.

The younger woman looked back at the simple, empty glass, her voice small. "My dad died that year."

Shego winced. "Oh...uhm, sorry." Another silence ensued. "So...that's all? Nothing else?"

The other woman wanted to bristle at the use of words. _That wasn't nothing! It was horrible, and the worst part of my life!_ Then her anger evaporated when she remembered what brought her here. _It had been the worst part. Until now.._ "No...can't think of anything else. I have a simple life, without colored comets or super powers and that stuff."

"You mean, you _had_ a simple life. This is your new world, honey, don't forget. You're one of the bad boys...eh, girls now," Shego said, flicking her wrist.

Sasha shook her head incredulously. "No way. I know my mom is likely going to hate me now, but I can't just leave her or my entire life. And...and there is a funeral I have to go to.."

Shego stood up and sat down in front of the younger woman, looking at her with an intense and slightly annoyed gaze and trying to get her point across. "Look, cookie. You are wanted by the police, you are a _fugitive_. Do you know what that means? They will place you in a small, cold cell until they find out what you did to those people. _If_ they find out what it was. Say, what the hell _was_ it?" The villainess didn't know if she was exaggerating with what could happen to Sasha, but chances were high that she wasn't far off. And she wouldn't lose the girl now that she had her placed securely in this lair.

Bicolored eyes looked at her confused, afraid. "What do you mean? What police? Wait, you said that in the alley, too. I was running away from home and my mom, not the police."

"You mean, you don't remember?"

Sasha furrowed her brows. "I only remember wanting to flee. Everything else is hazy...I guess I blacked out a moment out on the street." She tried hard, but her memory refused to work between the white flash behind her eyes and from the moment she came to herself halfway across the city. "And what people are you talking about? What happened?" she asked, slightly more panicked. An ungood feeling started to spread in her stomach.

When Shego refused to answer, instead looking at her for a long moment with a stoic face, Sasha felt the heavy feeling grow worse. Cold sweat started to form on her skin. "Shego...what happened in that street?"

"Look yourself," the villainess answered curtly and walked over to the console the doctor had used. After hitting a few buttons, the whole wall on the other side of the beds shifted, revealing a few screens and displays and a keyboard integrated into it. The screens flashed to life and after a few seconds of searching in the internet, a video popped up. "Here."

She hit play.

Sasha watched the news anchor talking, the big screen looming in front of her like a mountain. A soft buzzing started between her ears, while she listened what the assailant had done, what _she_ had done. Goosebumps spread on her skin; her hands, which thankfully had let go of the glass, clenching into the fabric of the linen. The surveillance video played across the screen, Sasha recognizing herself in the corner. And what happened afterwards.

When the video turned to static and the tv to black, the run-away could only stare at the wall without blinking, her eyes wide with violent shock. Forced whispers erupted. "Oh...god. Oh my god. Oh my...god." Other words failed her.

Shego closed the wall panel, crossing her arms in front of her body. "That, honey, was a Go Glow. A white Go Glow, it seems."

Sasha pressed her bandaged hand against her mouth. "Oh god...I did that?... Oh god." Tears leaked down her cheeks when a sob tore itself from her throat. "It..it can't be."

Carefully keeping her distance while the younger woman cried, Shego tried to make sense of her. _She didn't know she had that kind of power? _Since the thief didn't know how to help Sasha in her grief, she prefered to keep her distance and turned to get a few handkerchiefs from the other room. After a second of hesitation, she also grabbed a small mirror. _I bet she doesn't know about her new hair-skin dye either. _After busying herself a few more minutes (emotions like that made her extremely uncomfortable), she slipped back into the sickbay to find Sasha still with tears streaming down her face, but the worst sobs had passed. The woman was too exhausted to keep the constant crying up much longer.

Shego handed her the handkerchiefs and watched her blow her nose. Sasha didn't bother with wiping away the salty drops, but surprised the villainess with speaking quietly.

"Look, Shego, I don't remember what happened there and I don't know how I did it. All I know is that I never ever had such a white glow in my entire life. And I don't remember anyone else having it, too. I just don't know what's going on!"

"I'm sorry, kiddo, but I guess I have yet more news for you. Throw a look into this one," she adviced and gave Sasha the mirror. When she saw the younger woman gasp in horror and clutch at her new white strands and pale skin, Shego felt a stab of compassion for the other woman. _I guess that's enough shock value for one day. I should give her something to help her sleep later,_ she thought, forcing away the memory of her own first look into the mirror after...

The mirror slipped from Sasha's fingers and fell down next to the empty glass, a light plinging sound ringing out when both items slipped against each other. "I can't believe this is happening. You're right... I.. can't go back. Not looking like this... Not when I'm a danger for the people around me."

At the defeated note in Sasha's voice, Shego sat down on the mattress again and placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing softly. "It's not that bad, believe me." Dusting off her emphatic streak, she smiled wryly at her opposite. "You will get used to the new look, I did too. You're special now, don't forget that. And... if anyone calls you a freak or something, come to me, I'll make sure they regret ever learning to use words." Letting her free hand glow in front of her face, Shego watched it flicker with a wistful expression. "Now we just need to find out what your white glow does and help you start controlling it."

"Shego, you don't understand.." Sasha looked at her with a pleading expression, more intense thanks to the two different colors, the tears on her cheek drying quickly. "That white glow...that's not mine. I don't know what it is or how to activate it."

The villainess blinked, surprised. "But you said.."

"I said I never had such a white glow in my life. Back then I was talking about _my_ glow, the one I got as a kid."

Holding up her injured hand, a black smoke or fog-like substance erupted from the skin of it, crawling along her fingers and wrist in a way equal to Shego's plasma. The thiefs jaw slacked down.

_What the.._

"This is my glow, Shego. It's black. Not white."

_______

"Tell me what you have."

Six hours later, Shego had spend three of them tossing and turning in her bed, before getting up and searching her time away on the internet. An accomplished thief like her had to be an expert hacker, otherwise she never would be where she was now. But the less people knew, the better, there was no point in showing her cards when she wanted to snoop around without being found.

Leaning against the wall in Doc Rimus office, she observed the small man with half-lidded eyes. She sent a thank you to her genetics that she didn't _look_ like she had spent a sleepless night, but the weary feeling was there anyway.

The doctor held a thin, newly written file in his hands, his eyes flicking from sentence to sentence. A x-ray image of a hand hung next to him on a backlighted wall, she presumed it was Sasha's. A rustling of paper and she looked back at the doc, who closed the folder carefully.

"I didn't talk to her that much, before giving her something to sleep, but there are a few very noticeable points. Let's see... " He slowly walked up and down the room, looking at the cover with a serious expression. "Sasha Mahoney. 22, female. Twin sister of a recently deceased brother, Gwyn Mahoney, whom she lived with, together with her mother, Eleanor Mahoney."

Shego rolled her eyes. "Skip the facts, let's get to the psychological report you made."

He smirked at her lack of patience, but did as she told. Stopping his slow walk, his eyes mustered the x-ray as if it helped him with thinking about what he had learned. "A very polite young woman, not by choice, I assume. There is a strong lack of self-esteem that shows in her speech and posture, I guess she uses politeness uncounciously as some sort of protection, like a shield against deeper prodding. Also interesting is a small underlying streak to please and assuage, without actually being acknowledged while doing so. It shows signs of carefully trained shielding from others."

He tapped the edge of the folder against his chin, deep in thought. "She is definitly under shock, maybe even in the beginnings of light depression, so I placed her under medical surveillance. She'll get medication, but I want to see her once a week."

The green woman furrowed her brows. "PTSD?"

"Might be." Doc Rimus turned towards her. "But it is too early to make that specific diagnose, so we have to keep watching her for signs. Since we don't know her and she already seems to be a very troubled woman, we have to be extra careful. You see, she was forcibly ripped out of her regular flow of life, only to be placed in a world she doesn't know anything about at all, with powers she is hardly familiar with. Who wouldn't freak at one point?"

A sigh passed black painted lips. "Okay, so we have a therapy case in the house. Anything else?" she asked without her usual flavor of sarcasm.

"These powers of hers.." The small man placed one of his hands into the lab coat pockets, his eyes unusually serious. "That one troubles me. Its like a wild card, we have no knowledge of how it works and what it can do. It could be anything." He pointed at a few printed out papers. "But what they wrote about the 'psychic bomb' we think Sasha was responsible for, it seems to work in a very different way than those Glows of you and your brothers. It might be especially targeting the mind, but there is no proof for that."

"Don't look at me, I have yet to get used to the fact that there are new Go Glows from god knows wheresoever," Shego quickly replied, flicking a bit of black hair over her shoulder. "I guess we just have to wait and see. The only secure fact we have is that Sasha is now playing for our team."

Seeing her evil grin, Doc Rimus raised his brows in a disbelieving way. "I doubt that was her decision, hm, my dear?"

"I just got the stone rolling, later she admitted I was right, with no forcing on my part." Taking a step forward, she spread her arms in a persuading way. "Think about it, another Go Glow user? With not only one, but two Glows?" She paused. "Man, I could almost get jealous about that. But the point is, we really could use her on the team if we want to win again."

"What about the amnesty?"

"Fuck the amnesty. It only counts in America anyway, and after a vacation of three years I'm itching to be back in the game and you know why," the green woman snapped, her eyes flashing, even though her irritation wasn't directed at the older man. "And now that Drakken's novelty as worldsaver is wearing of, he finally has enough inspiration again to craft a few new death ray machines. Maybe now there's an golden egg between all that junk."

"Yes, I get how you feel, Shego," Doc Primus replied carefully, not trying to get on her bad side. "But please think about it, before you drag the girl into it. She is a civilian."

"She _was_ a civilian, now she's a fugitive. I was only half-lying, when I told her about the consequences of knocking out over twenty people," the villainess shot back hotly. "If they don't throw her into prison she will be taken somewhere and prodded and drugged and tested until they now every least bit about the Go Glow, if she's _lucky!_ Maybe she'll spend the _rest of her life _in an underground military facility as a test subject!"

The doctor held back in the face of such anger. The woman was breathing deeply from almost shouting at him, her teeth bared and the green of her eyes burning so strongly, he was afraid they would erupt in green plasma just like her fists did just now. So when she snuffed them out and pressed her fingers against the corners of her eyes, he pretended not to see the pain that went hand in hand with the anger.

"I...know this is a touchy subject for you."

Shego didn't look up, she just waved her free hand at him, cutting off any other reply and closing the topic. It had to be the lack of sleep that made her so touchy. "When will her hand be healed?" she asked, her voice flat and bored like always.

Wandering over to the x-ray, he glanced at it again, while he scratched at his chin. "Well, that's quite up in the air. If it heals normally, about eight days. But if we assume she heals as fast as you...three days top."

"Good. I'm sure Drakken has cooked up something until then and I don't want her to still be hurt then." The green woman whirled around, taking three steps toward the door, before stopping again. She shuffled from one foot onto the other and Doc Primus couldn't help but smile.

"Sorry...for that." The words were forced and he understood how much it took her to say them. Apologizing was not an easy feat for the hot-headed villainess, but...they had history.

"Don't be. I guess I'm the only person in the whole lair who isn't afraid of being hurt by you, as mind blowing as that has to be for you, my dear" he said with a chuckle, when he saw the offended look she send him over her shoulder. "Although I try literally not to play with the fire too much, promise."

"You better," Shego snapped. But instead of leaving, there was still something keeping her in front of the door.. her gaze turned contemplative. "Hey Doc...did you ever regret it?"

"Hm?"

"Changing sides. Turning your back to the law and all that."

Doc Rimus pursed his lips, his eyes scanning the plain ceiling. Memories entered his mind, sad ones, happy ones and some he would give everything for to forget. And he remembered a lot. Finally, he smiled softly, even though there was a sadness behind it that comes with the hard lessons in life.

"No. I don't think I do. But ask me in 10 years again, when they found me and I spent most of them in a prison of some kind."

The villainess snorted, cocking her head. "As if you'll live another teen years, old man. Wishful thinking."

Brown eyes twinkled, but he crossed his arms and sulked. "Careful, young lady, I'm not that old!"

The green woman just snickered and turned back to walk through the door, while he shouted after her. "And be careful with the girl, you hear me?"

"Yeah, yeah."

Strolling through the lair and away from the infirmary, Shego turned her thoughts inward. The recent changes of the past not yet full 24 hours left her unusually edgy; there was a restlessness in her bones that hadn't been there before. It was a tingling feeling in the back of her neck and thoughts of it always ghosted around the edge of her mind. It made her feel as if there was something very wrong about the situation they were in and she better be on her guard.

Her search that night hadn't brought up that much. Through a back door Shego had slipped into some of GJs official files, where another two Glow users were mentioned, but not whom it was and what they did. Somewhere a domino stone had been flipped, whether unintentionally or not, and now they all could feel the effect in the air. And it drove Shego crazy most of all. There was no other information and no starting point where to look for more.

_How did they get the Glow? Why wasn't it mentioned before? And what the effing heck is going on?_

The villainess forced herself to relax and went back to her room, before she could stumble across her employer and be stuck with tool-handing duty. Twenty minutes later she was lounging in a hot bath, nursing a glass of expensive red wine and trying not to think.

Of course it didn't work.

_So now we have a villain rookie with a possible helpful power and something akin to a time bomb. Where to start with that?_ Swaying the dark red liquid in the round glass, Shego laid her head back, her brows slightly furrowed. _I still need Dr. D to put her under contract, but that will be the easiest part. Tommorrow I'm allowed to show her into her new room._

She was curious how Dr. D would react to the new team member, but Shego guessed he would hardly have anything against it. If he even realized Sashas existence, his head was going to be all over the place anyway.

Socializing with the new kid, Sasha, was a double-edged sword in her opinion. Of course, it was great to have someone with them who could use a power similiar to her own, who also seemed to understand the need to be part of the villain community, since she couldn't go anywhere right now. Shego could also teach her some moves or get her really hooked up into training, for the male part of Team Possible had gotten quite handy in using martial arts, if the news about the heroes were correct. The green woman was good, but not _that_ good that she could take on Kimmie and the buffoon, too.

_Sheesh, so much for relaxing._ She pushed all thoughts of the infurating Team Possible aside.

On the other hand, there were all kinds of bad memories that Sasha's simple presence roused in her. Memories about her past, before and after the comet, times where she had been a hero and the following ones that made her switch to the other side. Sure, not all of them were bad, but the ones that were came hand in hand with such pain, anger and regret, that she simply refused to think about them. It was like a knee jerk reaction.

Shego drew in a shaky breath, letting the water sooth her frazzled nerves and caress her tensed up muscles.

No, it was better to put these memories far away into the deepest and darkest corner of her mind. _She's gonna be fine one day. There is nothing I can help her with, other than kicking ass or teaching her how to kick them herself._ And it's not as if they had anything in common other than the Glow. Just the fact that Sasha was so deeply attached to her brother caused the villainess to scoff.

_Let's just hope she's not such a weakling as my own siblings._

With a deep pull from her wine glass, Shego punched a water-safe button on the side of her luxurious tub and let the tumbling thoughts get washed away by loud blaring music. It was finally time to relax.

____________

"And this.." Her fingers fumbled along the wall. "...is your new home." With an almost silent click, the light turned on.

Shego watched Sasha. Sasha watched the room.

"It's...er...nice. Big." The younger woman shifted uneasily. "Looks like a...hotel room."

Shego lifted an eyebrow. "You don't get out much, do you?"

"...No."

The room _was_ big. Clean, fully furnished and modern, too. Not exactly classy enough to count as a suite, but far from a fleabag either, with soft, saturated colors and clearly made for long-term use. There was no visible kitchen, but another door in the back led to one, or more, rooms. What could be seen was one wall filled with furniture equaling a living room and the corner next to the closed door, where a comfortable looking bed stood. The ceiling was quite low, but that was due to the fact that the 'lair', as Shego had called it, was mostly underground or half inside the mountain.

Sasha guessed that this was one of two dozen identical other rooms along this floor, all ready to be moved in or out of, whenever the need was due. Whoever had designed it had tried to create a warm, homey feeling, but all it succeeded in was looking like the rooms that were used in TV shows and at the doctors premises. Everything was placed a bit too correctly and looked a bit too spot on, so that it just screamed personal emptiness.

She felt more lonely by simply looking at it. It didn't help that her own room at home _not home anymore, remember,_ was maybe one fourth of the monstrosity in front of her.

"I..don't have any stuff with me.. I guess I need some fresh clothes soon," she murmured, her shoulders slumping. Right now she was dressed in clothes from the henchmens storage, a red sweater and cotton slacks that looked too big on her slim body, but her own had been covered with bloody spots. The dirty bundle was in her arms and she pressed it against her.

"We'll get to that, don't worry. The door in the back leads to the bathroom. The kitchen is at the end of the floor, past the infirmary and then left. Don't wander too far though, or you'll end up in Drakken's lab." Shego droned on about where to wash the clothes, where to find some food between mealtimes, mealtimes themselves and other trivialities.

_I could've gotten a henchman to do that for me, I feel like a babysitter._ But she needed to present Sasha to Drakken, so instead of waiting till the rookie was finished with being shown around, she had taken matters into her own hands.

"Alright, hurry up and leave your clothes, I don't have all day. Don't forget your room number." Shego flicked the key card at her companion and Sasha hastily grabbed it, loosing her clothes to the laws of gravity in the meantime. "Good, you're done. Let's get going."

Sasha spared the clothes an uncertain look and hurried after her green guide, quickly slapping her fingers against the pad that closed the thick steel door. _These villains have to be really paranoid if they even reinforce their guest rooms._

Quickly jogging after Shego, she was surprised how silent the other woman was moving along, even though she was walking with big strides and high heels in her boots. There was no sound of movement, even if she concentrated on it, in contrast to Sashas own sneakers, which made a quiet slapping sound every time her sole connected with the bleak stone floor. She wondered if it was thanks to Shegos training as a thief or if villains created special shoes just for outlaws with a fashion sense.

They walked past the infirmary and, after turning the corner, what Sasha could identify as the kitchen (it was plastered on the door in big, bold letters) and the canteen, then down the corridor. All walls looked barren and grey, illuminated with an intense artificial light and if you ran around wildly without a blue print there was a big chance to get hopelessly lost. Every hallway and all doors looked exactly the same.

Finally they reached a set of double doors and loud clanking sounds could be heard even outside the heavy steel barricade. Once they were near enough, the panel of the doors opened the way forward automatically.

"Hey, Doctor D, I've got news for ya!" Shego shouted into the large room, placing her hands on her hips. "Where is that blue dork?"

While Sasha was busy staring open-mouthed at the large room decked in high ceilings, large monitors, panels and other technical gadgets, the mad man put his head over the railing of a raised plattform, tinted googles placed over his eyes.

"What is it, Shego? Can't you hear that I'm busy?" he whined, carefully stepping down the ladder and almost missing some steps because of his limited line of vision. "I'm SO close to creating the perfect doomsday machine to-...uh, who's that?"

"Your new employee," Shego answered in a flat voice, pushing her hips to the side.

"I don't actually remember employing her.." Drakken mumbled, lifting the googles from his head and scratching it afterwards. "You! Girl! What's your name?" He pointed at her.

"Ehm..Sasha." Finally ripping her eyes away from her surroundings, she lifted her arm for a small, weak wave, not exactly sure what she had to do. Nervously she mustered the blue man, surprised by how much smaller he looked in real life than on tv...or maybe, just more _normal_. With the exception of the blue skin.

After a few seconds Drakken creeped close to Shego. "Why exactly did I employ her?"

The villainess groaned. "You didn't _yet._ Print out a new contract and let her sign, she's the Go Glow user we saw on the news yesterday." Waiting for the light bulb to go off, she grabbed the doctors shoulder and dragged him over to one of the computers.

"Uh, so, she's a Glow user...and...wants to become a villain under my command...and... wait, do I have to pay her the same as you?"

"No, beginner's wage is fine, just get on with it!"

Sasha, who had followed them, raised a meek finger. "How...how much is beginner's wage?.."

Shego hit in a command at the computer. A number flashed up on the screen. The younger woman made a strangled noise.

"Oh. Oh, okay...that's...fine. Really."

With a bit of delay, the light bulb flickered on. "Another Go Glow user! With her as help, we will grasp world domination even faster! Mwaaaahahaha- ow!" Drakken rubbed the back of his head, where Shego had slapped him. "What was that for?!"

"Stupidness induced delay."

When the contract was printed out, looked over and placed in Sasha's hands, the run-away felt her world break apart for just a moment.

_There is no going back to your regular life. Not anymore. Not without Gwyn._

She signed without hesitation.

_____________

The freshly created rookie villainess (or was it second command sidekick?) stood inside the canteen with a tray of food in her hands and no idea what to do. Several henchmen, maybe a dozen or more, sat around at the tables, eating and chatting, just like normal workers would do at any kind of working day. It was a bit surreal to see the criminal world act so...normal.

_'Everything' is more normal behind the stage. I.. didn't imagine it to be like this._ She also didn't know _what_ she imagined it to be. But those were criminals, bad people... or weren't they? They had done bad things, hurt people, maybe even killed...or had they?

_And I'm one of them now._ Well, she _had_ accomplished to bring twenty-seven people into hospital so...yeah. She should've felt right at home in this place.

_But I guess it's not as easy as that. What exactly am I supposed to feel?_

She didn't know.

One of the goons caught her eye, waving her over to their table. After hovering another second or two, the young woman decided to take him up on his offer. Placing her tray on the free spot, she sent them a nervous smile.

"Hiya there, lady. You're the new one, right?" It was the one that had beckoned her over, the head piece of his red suit was pushed back and revealed short-cropped brown hair. He was of average height and weight and without the suit she wouldn't have guessed him to be one of the criminals with his easy smile and youthful face.

"Yeah..seems like word travels fast here," she answered while sitting down carefully. They didn't _act_ like criminals...they were just examining her in a friendly, curious way.

"Believe me, the guys are just as bad as any blabbermouth and if there's a new face everyone wants to know about it." He rolled his eyes and then pointed at a strange greyish mass on her plate. "Better don't touch the potato slobber, it's close to poisonous."

Sasha scrunched up her face and hesitated, then placed her fork at the side of the dish, not really hungry anymore. "Thanks."

"Don't worry, the rest is decent or at least eatable."

She shrugged, but left her fork where it was. Used to cooking her own dishes, she wasn't very fond of tasting the strange, heartless dish the canteen people had put together, instead she took the banana placed on the tray and began peeling away.

"So, what were you thinking about over there? You didn't look very thrilled," the henchman asked, a curious gleam in his eyes while he shoveled the 'decents' into his mouth.

Nibbling the fruit, the young woman wasn't really sure what to reply. There were four of the red-dressed goons at the table, one big guy at the head, one tall, lanky henchman next to her and two others on the opposite. The one talking was sitting in front of her. Taking a deep breath, she decided to satisfy her curiosity. "I just wondered what would lead someone into taking up a life of crime... for example, as a henchman. I never actually thought about it."

The man seemed amused. "What persuaded you into becoming a mad man's sidekick?" His eyes flicked towards the white spot on her head.

Sasha snapped her mouth shut, becoming mute.

He laughed at her reaction, putting something that looked vaguely like beans on his cutlery. "Ah, don't worry, I wasn't trying to pry. But think about it, something forced you away from your regular life, 'cause you don't look like someone that said 'I wan't to become a villain when I'm grown up' in kindergarten. The same happened to a lot of us."

Pointing his fork at a stout man on the other table, he went on. "Jeff over there lost his wife during a razzia, when the police started shooting. Both were innocent." He turned towards another one. "Billy lost all his money to a corrupt company chef, who made it impossible for him to find another job in his line of work." The big man at the end of the table. "Hunk here, that's just his nickname, was a bodyguard, but he gambled money with the wrong persons and was forced to reroute. There are all kinds of things that made them switch to the henchwork, but once you realize it's just like any other kind of job, they simply stay."

Surprised at this new kind of information, things made a lot more sense to Sasha now. She looked around the room in awe. "I didn't know.. I suppose, I imagined hard-core criminals and all that, but nothing like this."

"Some of them did have criminal past before...well, becoming real criminals, just take me for example." He smirked. "Tried my hand at robbing and failed, which sucked, but I found a new home as a henchman. The really bad cases, like the killers, don't simply become one of us, since they don't make good employees. They tend to be a bit...unstable. By the way, I'm Jerry."

He offered her his hand and she shook it daintily. "I'm..."

"Sasha, yeah, I know. Remember, we're just a bunch of old washing ladys." Jerry munched his beans, leaning back on the bank he sat on. "So, what do you think of your new bosses?"

The woman scrunched up her nose, puzzled. "I thought Doctor Drakken works alone?"

"Yeah, but he doesn't get much order around here, so the green bombshell does most of the work. Uhh.." he ducked his head, his eyes scanning the room. "Don't repeat that to her, or I'll get fried."

"I'll keep quiet. I gained the impression that he was a bit..."

"Scattered? Strange? Mad?"

"Well...yeah. He wasn't what I imagined him to be. The same with Shego. They are both...not really what you would think about first when hearing the word evil." Trying to find the right words for the impression they made on her, Sasha chewed the last bit of the banana, before fiddling with the peel.

"You should see them once they get a plan in action. Shego is turning into a prowling jungle cat, once she's sure of getting a fight and Drakken.. the good doc turns from crazy world-conqueror to man-child and back. It would be amusing, if it weren't so sad." Finishing his meal, Jerry pushed the tray aside, placing his elbows on the table top. Next to him, the other guys had started a simple card game.

"But Drakken _is_ an alright employer or most of us wouldn't work for him. His pool of henchmen stays quite steady, too, so most of us are here since he began trying to take over the world. We have good working hours, a steady income, regular work-outs and we're even insured. Some of that stuff Gemini's men can't brag about, but that guy employs the unstable cases, if you get my drift." He winked at her, smiling.

Feeling a tad uncomfortable, Sasha slipped her hands between her knees, looking at the table. "And this is your regular working place?"

"It's our permanent home. Once Shego and Drakken plan a heist, they rent a time share lair."

Remembering the numbers that would pop up on her next paying check, she shook her head incredulously. "How can he afford all this?!"

"That guy is a mad genius slash former normal genius. He _knows_ about things like incentives, investments and stocks, but don't ask me how. Oh, and cue to the boss lady!"

With that he snapped his mouth shut and just as he said, Shego strutted into the room, ignoring the people around her. Some of them sat a bit straighter, but it seemed more out of respect than fear. Even Jerry placed a charming smile on his face as if trying to make a good impression on the sexy thief.

Looking very unimpressed at Jerry, she turned her intense gaze towards Sasha, who felt the need to hunch herself together under Shego's intimidating presence.

"You done chatting? Doctor D wants to see us."

Wanting to grab her unfinished tray, Jerry placed his hand on it with the words "I'll get it, you go on." Nodding thankfully at him and at the rest of the table's occupants, who raised their hand in good bye, she hurried after Shego _again_, because the older woman had turned around once the last word had left her black painted lips.

Sasha caught up with the villainess at the labs doors and let out a squeal when the heavy metal swished close behind her the second she had stepped in. The blue scientist had lowered the plattform where he had been working on and now it showed a tall, round tower with a few panels and keyboards around its base. Lights were blinking happily at all sides.

"Behold! This is the new, better doomsday machine which I call... doomsday machine!" He thrust his hands in the air, cackling maniacally.

"Oh, this just gets better every time," Shego ground out, slapping a hand over her eyes.

"Now we will have the world at our feet, once we place it at the correct location and activate it. It will bring fear and helplessness over all the continents, so that they are going to grovel in front of my feet when I offer them to be invoked as their all-powerful leader!"

Silence followed. Drakken put down his arms and looked over to the two women, who stood at the side. Waiting. Shego tapped her foot impatiently and Sasha had her hands folded behind her back, rocking on her feet.

"It's...a brilliant idea. Right?"

"Whatever you say, Doc," Shego answered disinterested.

He turned to Sasha, desperate and wringing his hands now. "Right?"

The young woman shifted her eyes. "I...yeah...sounds alright to me." _I'm not even here for one day and I'm already part of a world conquering plan._

"Great! Tomorrow we'll leave and find the perfect place for my little precious doomsday machine." He smiled lovingly at the device and patted its metallic wall.

Sasha looked from Drakken to Shego and then down at herself. The fact that they all three had some strangely colored places on their bodys, had turned to the supposedly dark side and slipped right past the definition of evil, jumped into her mind and then out of her mouth. "We're truly a bunch of freaks."

Shego looked up from inspecting her gloves, cocking her eyebrow. "Duh. If the villain thing doesn't work out I would just _love_ to spend the rest of my life in circus throwing pies and cake into both of your charming faces. Wee."

"Shego, I didn't know you cared!" the mad genius started, touched.

"Doctor D, for once in this lifetime get a dictionary and look up the words 'sarcasm' and 'irony' before I spontanously combust or skin you alive with my nail file!"

"But you can't skin with a....oh."

Needless to say, they started working on a plan on how to take over the world.

_______________


	5. Catch Me If You Can

5. Catch Me If You Can

_________________

When Kim activated the Kimmunicator, it wasn't the face she expected to see.

"Hi Wa-...oh. Aron! Nice to hear from you again." She smiled at the dark-skinned GJ trainee, who offered an equally pearly white grin.

"Good day, Kim. It's been a while, but you're as radiant as ever."

The redhead rolled her eyes good-humouredly at the display. "Real smooth, casanova. Now, you called me to flirt or are there more pressing matters?"

"There is never a more pressing matter than flirting with a good-looking gal," he answered in such a grave voice, that Kim had to laugh. "Okay, sorry, I guess it's a reflex, I know you're already taken from the market." He winked and smiled again. "But I do have other reasons to call you... GJ searched around some more and guess what? We found another Go Glow user outside the Go family."

Kim's face fell. "Again? How many are there?"

A shrug. "I honestly have no idea, but we are near the end of our resources. You could see this one is probably the last one we'll find thanks to our research. I'm quite sure that now we'll only come across them by chance or if they reveal themselves to us."

"I'm really curious what made it possible for so many different people to have _Go_ Glows. Ron's right, we need a new name for it." At Aron's nod, she went on. "So, who's the new one?"

The turquoise eyed young man looked down at some papers he held in his hand. It looked like he was standing in front of a big monitor, maybe one of GJs communication stations. "Her name's Kristen McCall. I tried to ask her a few questions, but it seemed she didn't like me very much from the sound of her screaming."

Kim chuckled at Aron's incomprehensible face. "I wonder why."

"What I did find out was that she has a, or _the_, yellow glow. It showed when she was around five, if I got that correctly. I know where she lives and that she studies fashion and interior design, but that's it."

"Alright, thanks for telling me. What are you going to do with these different kinds of information now? We're no step closer to finding out where the powers come from."

Aron held up a hand and smiled. "Ah, don't worry, I'm sure now that we have so many different users, we'll find a starting point somewhere. Actually, I have an idea, but I want to talk to Dr. Director first before doing anything. If you want, I'll get back to you once I did?"

"That would be great, Aron, thank you. I want to help where I can, so give me a call." Kim stopped and looked up, she was close to her home now. After university hours had ended, she'd decided to walk back instead of taking the bus, but the time had gone by in a breeze while she was talking. Standing on a sidewalk, there was another thing she remembered wanting to ask. "Say, did you find anything about the girl from the news? Ron and I searched the whole night, but there was no trace of her."

The GJ trainee shock his head, dark curls flying around his face. "No, we're as far as you are. You were probably right that it's Sasha Mahoney who's the Glow user, since she's the only one missing since that day. But just as you said, there is no trace." He looked thoughtful. "Poor girl, out there all alone with these powers. She could do much more good if she offered herself to the police. We could help her."

"I'm sure she's scared out of her mind, especially with the news about the police searching for her. There are a few very angry people out there, whose family members or friends are in that strange, deep coma. They are the ones wanting justice for their loved ones. They don't understand that she might not be responsible for what happened." Kim sighed, even though she had never been in such a situation, she could still relate to the missing girl.

Aron smiled wrily. "Yeah, that's right. They don't understand these powers...hell, even I don't, and they have been with me since about 15 years. I think I should.." he stopped, looking somewhere far off to the side, before he snapped his mouth shut and smiled back into the camera. "That's for later. Wouldn't want to spoil anything, eh? Anticipation is half the fun." He winked again, while Kim groaned at the innuendo.

"Alright Aron, we'll talk soon."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world, Kim," the young man answered with a charming smirk, before waving. The Kimmunicator went black, while Kim raised an amused brow. There was no way Aron could land with her and she was quite sure that he knew it too, which made his flirtations more entertaining than serious. _I just hope Ron doesn't get the wrong impression, but he's not the jealous type anymore._

The thought of Ron made her smile warmly and she started walking again, knowing he was waiting at her parents house so that they all could eat dinner together.

__________

"Where are we flying?" Sasha shouted against the wind blowing past them. She wondered why no one, especially the mad genius, got the idea to place some kind of force-field or fish bowl atop the hovercraft to keep it out. That couldn't be a problem for people with these kind of resources, could it?

"What?"

"I said, _where are we flying?"_ she tried again, in a louder voice. Maybe she had to suggest the idea once they were back from the heist.

"The Middleton Center of Genetic Research. There is some stuff I want from them." The villainess turned her head a little towards the back as she spoke, while still flying the vehicle at full speed.

Drakken gackled, rubbing his black gloves against each other. "And while there, we're going to try out my new doomsday machine! I am sure that Kim Possible will try to stop us again, like everytime, but now we are in the majority! Ahahahaha!"

"Kim.. Possible?" The villain rookie let out a gasp and turned pale. Sitting in the back, she now leaned against the wall, not very comfortable with the thought of meeting one of the worlds most famous hero teams while...well, being on what most people would call the wrong side. Thankfully, with the wind rushing and howling, no one heard her. Sasha turned to the side and looked down at the truck they were following.

"What are they carrying?" she asked again, trying to get her mind of the immediate future and a tiny bit bored by the long flight.

"My machine. It's too heavy for the hovercraft," Drakken answered, fiddling with a button on his coat. "Once all is set up, the henchmen will drive back and wait for our glorious return! Oh for the love of....Shego, my button's gone off!"

"Then use a safety pin or something! What am I, your mother?" the green woman shot back, still starring ahead. "Don't expect me to sew it on for you!"

The doctor pouted, placing the button in his pocket. With the upper edge of his coat flapping around uselessly and sitting there like a child, he looked a lot less formidable than when Sasha had met him in the laboratory. She held back a grin, but when a few lights emerged in the distance, the amusement left and the anxiety came back to her.

"And here we are. One Middleton Genetic Research Center coming right up." Shego readjusted the direction they were flying in and started descending towards the buildings appearing from the darkness of the night.

___________

Dropping down on the ground after having jumped down the fence surrounding the center, Kim clicked on the Kimmunicator. "Alright, we're i-...."

"WHAAA!"

The redhead turned around in time to see Ron falling down the whole ten feet, but unlike their first few years, he actually landed on his legs instead of his back. A bit shacky, he stood there with spread arms.

"Uh...sorry, KP. My glove stuck to the barbwire and when I tried to get it off, well..." he showed her the two holes in the cloth. "I'm quiet now. Promise." He smiled sheepishly.

She sighed. "Alright... Wade, we're inside. And hopefully still undetected."

"I wasn't that loud.." the blonde mumbled to his favourite pet.

The boy wonder stayed serious, dividing his attention between Kim and his computers. "I managed to get a few surveillance videos before Shego blasted them. It seems they are in the main lab, on the second floor. There is something interesting I want to show you though. Watch." Wade hit a key on his board and a video started to play.

They saw Shego and Drakken walk down what seemed to be a floor from an odd angle, but there was no way Team Possible wouldn't recognize them even from just their backs. Another woman came into view, walking a few steps behind them. The trio stopped and Shego looked around wildly, almost crouching into a fighting stance. Drakken said something the camera didn't get and the female stranger could be seen from the side for a few second, because she watched Shego turn around and looking directly at the spot where she was filmed from. Two seconds and a plasma burst later, Kim suspected there was a definite chance the camera would never shoot another picture again.

"She has a uncanny knack for finding surveillance equipement," Wade said in part awe, part annoyance to himself. He shook his head. "Okay, you saw what I mean?"

"Who's that girl?" Ron asked in wonder. "She's new. Did they kidnap her?"

"I don't think so," Wade answered, placing an elbow on his desk. "I suspect she came with them willingly. There's a short recording where she's standing next to Drakken and answering to his orders without any objections. After running some search programms, here's what I found." He showed them an ID card.

Kim looked at the display with shock. "Sasha Mahoney. That's the missing Glow user."

"No wonder we couldn't find her! Dang, we searched the whole night too!"

Kim looked up at the research building. "Alright, we need to act quickly. I guess they are either stealing some things or activating another doomsday machine, since the center should give them enough juice for it. Give us a way inside, Wade, preferably stealthy."

"What about Sasha, KP?"

Smiling at him, Kim watched as Ron replaced his gloves with his spare ones. "I'm sure you can handle her and Drakken. I have my hands full with Shego, but once I'm free we need her to come with us, so let's make her understand that this is the wrong choice."

"I _really_ don't get why someone would want to become a evil sidekick, for Drakken nonetheless. She totally doesn't know what she's doing," Ron said in a reproaching and unbelieving tone.

"And that's what I'm counting on. Come on, let's do this." _Though I don't get it either. I fear this isn't going to be as easy as we think, especially with that white Glow we don't know anything about... Sasha needs to see reason._

Once Wade gave them the signal, they hurried to the first air duct they could find.

___________

"Aaaand...it's done! A-HA! Now we can start the machine that will bring all the power in the world to ME, ahahahaa!" Drakken curled his hands in the air, threw his head back and laughed his evil-villain-laugh.

"Uh, does that mean you don't need the screwdriver anymore?" Sasha asked carefully, her arms filled with all kinds of tools.

Stopping his laugh short, the evil scientists coughed. "Eh...no. I'm done. We only need to programm a few adjustments, hit enter....and no disrupting the evil-villain-laugh anymore, girl!"

"Sorry, boss." Sasha ducked her head, turning around to place the tools back into the hovercraft.

"Good. And now, Shego....Shego?" He looked around, trying to find the green clad sidekick. "Where the hell is she always vanishing to? As if I didn't pay her enough to-...EEP!" Drakken whirled towards his unamused employee, who had tapped him on the shoulder. "Stop that sneaking up to me! If I get a heart attack one day, I'll sue you for it!"

Shego lowered her eyes, but didn't answer to the bribe. "I sent the goons on their way and packed some things. Are you finished? 'Cause I'm getting quite bored and Miss Priss never shows up until your damn toys are finished."

"Patience, Shego, I'm done. Now get down there and stop anyone from approaching this part of the room.." He shooed her down the stairs towards the bigger part of the laboratory.

The doors Shego was ordered to guard led into a big room that looked surprisingly much like Drakken's own lab, but there were dozens of windows at one wall that started at a normal humans height and ended below the ceiling, while in the back, a third of the room was raised up. There, in the middle, stood Drakken's device, connected to all kinds of the lab's machinery with thick red cables. There was a suspicious hovercraft-shaped hole in the windows, where directly underneath Sasha jumped down from the flying vehicle and jogged towards the stairs, still clad in the red henchman clothes.

"And now we wait?" she asked her boss while looking up the machine that would bring fear to the world once powered up. Strangely, she didn't really feel that bad for mankind, even if Team Possible didn't stop them first. _Which they probably will anyway._

Drakken, his coat pinned up with the biggest safety pin they could find, folded his hands behind his back. "Oh no, we'll start right away. We acted quick and quietly, so there is no way that dratted Possible girl and the buffoon will be here in time to foil my plans. Not anymore!"

"But...we activated the alarm system when we crashed through the windows, didn't we?" the white-spotted woman asked slowly.

The blue mans eyes whipped from one side to the other, caught at his mistake. "Uh..well...I thought they wouldn't connect the alarm system to windows that are so high above the ground..." He quickly righted his posture, speaking in an authoritive voice again. "But still, we are just one step from completing my plan, so go over there and look to it that I'm not disrupted. Or better yet, guard that cable! They always tend to plug my cables..."

"Uh, sure." Taking her place next to the doomsday machine, Sasha summed up that villainy wasn't as thrilling and bad-ass as most films made you believe. The most you did was wait for the boss to do his thing and stand around, guarding the equipment against people who could knock you on your backside in one or two moves. _I hope I'll get back without too many bruises.. at least we aren't going to do this every day._

Bored and unable to take any interest in the technics that were lying around, Sasha leaned against the railing and watched the room and Shego, who was stalking around on the lower ground like a caged tiger. More often than not the villainess send eager looks at the closed doors.

After a while, Sasha's eyelids started to drop.

It was at least two in the morning and nothing had happened yet, only the machine Drakken was standing next to had started to hum softly, which didn't help her tired state. The low sound made it even harder to keep her eyes open. Then the humming turned more intense with every minute and the mad scientists cackling had started again, waking her up a bit. _Maybe if they don't show up, I can go to bed soon._

Sasha found herself yawning loudly and almost choked on her tongue when the doors burst open with a loud crash.

"Finally!" Shego shouted over the echo of the loud sound, quickly bursting forward to engage the redhead in a fight. The black-haired woman jumped over a turned off control panel, landing in a crouch a few feet in front of Kim, while Ron was already scurrying of to the side. "Took you quite some time to get here," she said with a nasty smile.

"I thought we'd give you some time to adjust. You weren't exactly subtle, you know," Kim shot back, placing herself in a fighting stance. "Since I guess that alerting all of Middleton's police force was part of your great plan, wasn't it?"

"Take it as a little help for Team Possible to find us, it would've been bad sport to leave you running around in the dark in circles while we're taking over the world. There's no _fun_ in that." Shego's fists burst into flame, the green light flickering across her smirk.

"Thank you _so_ much then. I promise not to kick your ass for that too much." Unimpressed, Kim rushed forward, keeping the comet powered woman busy with a series of fast, well-placed punches.

"Let's see who's ass is getting kicked!" her opponent snarled, meeting the redhead for every punch with equal force.

"As long as it isn't mine.." Ron added to himself, crossing the room in big strides. It was a bit of a slalom scurrying around all the control panels staged everywhere, but soon he was sprinting up the stairs, taking two at a time. Finding himself in front of the machine, Ron wondered why Drakken nowadays didn't even _try_ anymore.

"Oh come on, that's all? Rufus could build this in his sleep! I only need to pull the plug and we're done here."

The nacked mole rat on his shoulder nodded vehemently, crossing his arms. "So easy!"

"So not! This has taken at least one full day to plan and build, so don't make fun of it!" The blue skinned man patted his doomsday device with a whiny expression. "Machines have feelings too."

Blinking, Ron scratched his head. "Uh, no, they don't."

Enraged, Drakken pointed his finger at him. "Yes, they do! But I don't care about your petty opinion, in a few moments this great achievement of science will give me control over all of-.." A fist crashed into his face, making him stop his rant and grab his hurting nose with surprise. "...ow!"

Ron smiled nervously, looking at his fist. "Oh, sorry. Actually I wanted to knock you out. Didn't work like I thought it would."

"Fhat hurf, you know!" Drakken whined, mumbling past his fingers.

"Believe me, I'm sorry. Next time I'll aim better."

"You beffer will!" Another fist crashed into his temple. "Fhat was much more accurafe." Drakken crossed his eyes and slumped backwards on the ground, out like a light.

"Thank you, I appreciate the help," Ron said with a proud look. He dusted off his fingers, assumed a mystical monkey power pose and shouted "Booyah!" After no one replied to his display of awesomeness, the blonde looked down at the unconcious mad genius, back at the still heavily fighting two women and then at the humming machine.

_That humming sounds almost happy...okay, this is getting weird._

"Looks like this was _really_ easy this time, buddy. Let's do a little plugging and head back home, I could use a past-midnight snack."

Stepping carefully over the scientist's body and wondering about the giant safety pin on Drakken's coat, Ron let himself be guided by Rufus. While he had gotten much better at handling a fight, now that the monkey power was getting a bit tamed and willing to help more often, he still didn't get what the difference between the power cable and the ground cable was. Or why they all had different colors. Or which cable led where. So when Rufus chattered into his ear and aimed his paw at the third cable, Ron trusted that this was the right one without hesitation.

"And in a minute, where finally do-.." He stopped in the middle of reaching for it.

"S-stop! Right there!"

"Or maybe not a minute." Looking up, he saw the woman they had been searching for all this time pointing some strange..._thing_ at him. Taking a wild guess, he assumed it was a weapon of any kind. "Okay, right, whatever you say." Slowly he stood back up, placing his hands in the air, Rufus mimicking his actions.

"Good...and..and now take a step backwards. Or two. A-away from the cable." Sasha gripped the weapon as if she was unsure if she _wanted_ to hold a gun or not.

Ron did what he was told and stood a bit awkwardly at the spot she had send him to. Since neither Sasha nor Ron knew what to do now, they waited a bit for something, anything to happen. The machine hummed on happily. After a minute or two had passed and both had shifted from one foot to the other, he squinted at her.

"Hey...did you get hit by a can of paint? There's some white stuff in your hair."

The woman flushed with embarrassment, pointing the weapon more aggressively at him. "Yes, I know! I can't do anything about it, alright?!"

Ron squeaked and tried to calm her down with his still raised hands. "Cripes, calm down! I didn't want to hurt your feelings! Don't shoot that..that...what the hell is it that your pointing at me?"

Forgetting her anger at the bleached part of her head, Sasha looked down at the 'Ray gun' that Drakken had given at her with a puzzled expression. "I..er...don't really know. It's some kind of...gun. A ray gun. I guess it hurts when I hit you with it or something."

The yellow and red colored thing was shaped vaguely like a firearm and looked more like a water gun than a deadly instrument. But knowing Drakken, it either did something nasty or ridiculous. Ron wasn't inclined to find out what it was.

"Okay, look. We can stand here for another hour until Shego or Kim drop from exhaustion, the tower thingy here goes off or your arms drop from holding that weapon. How about you just put it down and we talk about how we're going to get you back to your mother?"

Sasha bristled and held the gun more secure again. "I'm not going back there!" she shouted at him, fear, sorrow and certainty in her voice.

Ron sighed, his arms starting to grow weak. _Of all times to put your foot in your mouth..._ He just hoped Kim had a good day and Shego a bad one. He _so_ was getting his snack after this.

_____________

"That was low of you, abducting an innocent to succeed in your own evil plans." Kim ducked under a fiery swipe, hurtling herself forward to tackle Shego on the ground. She grunted when the green woman flipped her into the air when they fell.

"Just so you know, she came willingly. Not my fault you weren't the first to help her get herself together, princess." Jumping on her feet again, Shego flung two balls of plasma at the redhead, who landed on her feet and quickly rolled to the side and away from the green heat. Rushing forward, Kim tried to kick Shego's legs away, only to have the villainess jump over it.

"And what about keeping her? Did you finally realize you can't win with equal numbers? Now that Ron can dump your henchmen just as easily as I," Kim blocked two kicks with her forearms, "it looks like there's no way for you but to lose heavily." Slamming her fists down, she tried to break through her opponents defense. Shego was able to bend away, but before Kim lost her momentum, she redirected her energy into a hit against Shego's shoulder, sending her enemy stumbling.

"It's just about the thrill, Kimmie," Shego spat, once she found her footing. Attacking again, they swapped a few quick attacks. The villainess spotted an opening and drove her fist into the redheads ribs, making her double over. But before she could add a second blow, the hero kicked her hard against the shin. Shego hissed and jerked back. "And just 'cause your little boyfriend can finally distinguish between his left and right foot, he's still lacking heaps in the brain department."

"Ron isn't dumb! Maybe a bit slower than others, but at least he has his heart in the right place!" Annoyed, Kim send a round-house kick at Shego that connected with her shoulder. The villainess replied with her own high kick, which the redhead dodged and, after grabbing the appendage, flinging the other woman harshly to the side.

Shego turned in her flight, landing on one of the lab's machines. Crouching down on it, she scoffed. "Yeah, in his pants from screaming in terror all the time." Then she started a bombardement of plasma missiles, forcing Kim to jump from one control panel to another, while trying to reach her enemy. Catapulting herself forward, she flipped over Shego and landed behind her, dropping a kick into her back. The green woman fell with a shout, her fall halted by the floor after about two feet.

"Accept it, Shego. You're going to lose this time and all others, too. We're taking Sasha with us and there is nothing you can do about it."

Rubbing her head after killing her plasma, the villainess forced her eyes up towards the teen hero, who stood on the machine with her arms crossed. An amused grin stretched Shego's lips when she picked herself up from the ground and placed her hands on her hips in a lazy pose. "Oh..sure. Go on, take her. I never thought I would see the day that Kim Possible turned criminal."

Kim did a double-take. Since Shego had dropped her stance of fighting, the redhead only turned more suspicious. "What the heck are you implying, Shego?"

"You see," the answer came from below, "there is that little contract Sasha signed, which is recognized in all American states and, oh surprise, in all other countries, too. And it seems that taking Sasha from us would actually be, what did you call it? Ah, abducting. Yes, that's it. And believe me, I wouldn't hesitate to call the police myself, since they're a bit.. fickle about the Villain's contract and probably will overlook for a little while that I'm a criminal." Regarding the tips of her gloves with a bored expression, Shego leaned against the machine.

Gaping down at her enemy, Kim couldn't believe what she heard. _She's lying._ "You're lying!"

Shego just shrugged. "Oh, sure. I might be. You can try if you want. Don't mind me, it's not me you have to justify yourself to later."

"Alright. Fine!" Kim jumped down on the ground and threw her hands in the air. "I'll just put all three of you into jail and then they can do whatever they need to. If you all want to be criminals, be my guest. I'm sure Sasha will see her mistake soon anyway."

Turning around to collect Ron and then call the police, she realized her mistake the second Shego vanished from her line of vision. Twisting herself around, she wasn't quick enough to block the fist that crashed into her abdomen, thankfully without added fire. The redhead slipped to her knees, wheezing, she could only watch with a blurred gaze as Shego slipped past her and towards Drakken's machine.

"But I never said I would let you drag us to the police _willingly,"_ the green woman shouted back at her with a mean laugh.

___________

"Your mother misses you."

"Oh, no. She doesn't." Sasha answered with a tired voice.

_Well darn, she's right and she knows it._ Ron was out of options what to say anymore. He wasn't even trying to hold up his hands any longer and the sound of fighting had stopped too. Even Rufus had vanished into a pocket, useless right now. _Let's hope KP get's here soon._

"Do you think you'll be happy as a villain? I mean, Shego's just _nasty._ And don't let me get started about Drakken over there."

Sasha, who found it easier to hold the ray gun in one hand only while resting the other, shrugged. "They've been nice enough so far. They didn't prod and they left me to myself. I'm used to that, so it's alright. Back at home I'm a fugitive and my mother is going to be worse than ever, so why go back?"

"What about your friends? And your..." he tried to remember her age. 21? 22? She looked far younger. "..your university courses?"

"I don't do well with friends...and university was nice, but I can live without it."

Ron sighed and dropped his shoulders, there wasn't anything else he could think of. "It's... just not a good idea. I don't think the people that care about you would approve of it."

_No, they wouldn't, _she thought and pressed her lips together, thinking of Gwyn. He would've advised her to be strong and face the mistakes she made with his help, but he wasn't there anymore. She was on her own from now on. And this counted as being strong too, didn't it? Since she had chosen what she wanted to do without anyone pressuring her and if that meant being a villain and not going back to her old life, then fine. "Be quiet or I'll shoot you with...this thing."

"You don't even know what it does!"

"Maybe I'm curious!" They stared at each other in annoyed silence.

Ten seconds later, Ron flew through the air with a scream when Shego threw him over her shoulder with a quick movement. "Time to leave now."

Sasha lowered the ray gun with a dumbfounded expression. "But what about the doomsday device?"

"Seems like Drakken forgot to hit return, the thing never started loading. Now get going!" Grabbing the still out cold scientists at the collar, Shego hurried towards the railing, jumping over it with Drakken thrown over her shoulder. Sasha, who gulped when she saw the far drop, quickly rushed down the stairs and past a groggy Ron. In a split decision, she threw the ray gun against his back, seeing him slump down again with a spark of satisfaction.

"Why didn't you use your Glow?" Shego asked irritated when she saw the other woman running towards her. Next to her, Drakken rubbed his aching nose and head, looking very disoriented.

"Did we find Neverland, mommy?" A slap against the back of his head got him fully awake.

"Because my brother told me not to! And I don't even know what it does exactly or how to use it!" Sasha panted, having a hard time scrambling up the side of the hovercraft with the fast retreat. "Now I get why you don't have a roof."

"Huh?" Shego and Drakken looked at her strangely.

"Nevermind."

"_Stop right there!" _The shout made all three of them turn around and they saw Kim and Ron both up and about and running towards them at full speed.

"Shit." Shego quickly fumbled at the controls, the flying vehicle slowly coming to life. But judging her edgy expression, not as fast as she wanted it too. "We are so getting a new engine for this thing!"

Kim and Ron were coming closer now and while the control panels slowed them down a little, they would reach the open ground in front of the hovercraft in mere seconds. Anxiety was in the air, Shego slamming her fist on the starting button. "Get going you little piece of junk!"

"Shego, they are going to catch us! Do something!" Drakken gripped the side of the hovercraft in panic.

"No time, Doctor D., I'm busy!"

"Quick, the immobilizer ray gun!" He turned towards Sasha, who looked at him appalled and with surprise.

"So that's what it does!....I...I..threw it at him." She pointed at Ron, while Drakken gurgled with shock.

"You _threw it at him?_ At the buffoon? My precious ray gun!" He then fell sideways against the wall of the hovercraft, when the vehicle lurched upward with a rumble. They were advancing now towards the ceiling at a steady pace, but one glance backwards told the mad scientists that both his enemys would still be able to jump onto the vehicle easily. "Then do something _else_! Quick!"

Sasha looked at Drakken, then at Shego's back and down towards the advancing heroes, her eyes wild. No one saw the small white flame flickering over her hand. Shego turned her head halfway to the side.

"They are going to catch us!" Turning the other way, Shego's eyes blazed into Sasha's. "Stop being such a damn coward!"

Kim and Ron ran as fast as they could, a victorious smile blossoming on the redhead's face when she saw that they were going to make it. The hovercraft had started but it wasn't rising fast enough. She calculated the jump in her mind and after sharing a quick glance with Ron, they nodded at each other. Just two more steps, right foot forward and -

The hero found herself slipping harshly.

Kim had to place all the energy she had saved for the jump into a quick flip backwards. It was all she could do to save herself from falling down on the floor. Ron wasn't as lucky, as he careened forward and fell down on all fours, sliding a few metres before stopping right inside the shadow of the fleeing hovercraft.

"You think you're all that, Kim Possible, but you..." Drakken shouted at her with a raised fist, but was cut of when the vehicle speed up a great deal and slipped out of the hole in the window they had made during their entrance. All the redhead could do was look after them, shaking with anger and getting one last glimpse at the run-away, who looked down over the side of the hovercraft right next to Drakken with a shocked expression.

The roar of the engine turned quiet soon. And left behind where the heroes that didn't quite know if they won or not.

"We we're so close to catching them!...Man, what's that stuff?"

At the sound of Ron's voice, Kim looked down at the strange substance that had caused her to slip. It engulfed about two or three metres of the ground, not thicker than a hand or two. It was black and like crystal at first glance, but less opaque than onyx. While much more uneven than the ground, it seemed to be very smooth to the touch and more like colored ice than anything else. The second Kim bowed down to touch it and find out if it _was_ like ice, the whole thing turned to something equal to heavy fog and then dissolved into nothing.

"Cooool..." Ron stared in awe.

"It has to be one of Drakken's new inventions. We're lucky it didn't hit us." Now that no trace of the substance was left to run tests on, Kim walked over to her boyfriend. "Come on, let's switch off Drakken's machine in case it's still dangerous. You okay?"

The blonde flipped her a thumbs-up sign. "My pride is hurt and my stomach empty, but I'm still top. You?"

"Tired and feeling strangely defeated, but no more than a bruise or two," Kim answered, letting her arms fall down her sides. "That so didn't work well. Sorry Ron, I made a mistake and then they got away."

Placing his arm around her shoulders, he hugged her against his side with a supportive smile. "Hey, 's alright. No harm done. They got away, but the world's still save, right? Let's finally plug that cable and get home, so I can cook us a tasty after-midnight snack."

"That sounds like the best thing I heard today." Her spritis rising again, Kim sneaked her arm around his back and together they went towards the platform to end what they came for.

______________

Half an hour later, the two 19-year olds groaned in disappointment.

"Kim, Ron, you couldn't know they would try to steal something. Normally they only do their world scheming thing _or_ try to steal expensive goods. And it's much more important you stopped them from activating the machine, otherwise it would have send out massive waves that could turn the strongest person into a trembling mass of fear and helplessness."

They sat on the couch in the Possible living room, with full bellys and unwashed plates in front of them. Their favourite hacker had called only moments ago.

"I know Wade..." Kim said towards the Kimmunicator they held between them, "but it's still a low blow."

"Now my ego doesn't feel bruised once, but twice," Ron added.

"Can you track them?" the redhead asked hopefully, but deflated when the boy wonder shock his head.

"Sorry, they are flying below radar. There is no way I can find them after such a long time, too. We have to wait till they try anything again."

"Great...at least Ron had a chance to talk to Sasha. But it doesn't seem like we can get her to change her mind, she seems quite steadfast on staying with the villains."

"No wonder, you didn't talk to her mother."

Kim sighed, unable to understand why anyone would want to be away from their family for _that_. But she also realized that not all familys were as happy with each other as her own was. Her parents loved their children and they in return loved them, and even though her brothers were worse than ever in a sense, now that they were going through puberty, she still wouldn't trade them for anything in the world. Remembering Shego's troubled relationship with her brothers, she wondered if maybe Sasha was in the right place after all.

_No, you can't think of her like that. She went through some traumatic situations and she's just misguided._

"Kim? Are you okay?"

Looking up at their concerned faces, Kim managed a smile. "Yeah. A bit tired, but I'm sure everything will turn out alright in time."

Even though that Villain's contract that Sasha had signed would still give them some problems. It was true that the authorities were very strict with breaches against it, since it was the only way to keep the criminal world in some kind of order. Super villains kept to the rules written down in there, like for example the restraint on lethal guns and that death traps needed to have at least one coop out, so if heroes defied the rules, like kidnapping one of the super villains sidekicks to force him to surrender, the villains could complain to the police and instantly obtain pardon for their criminal activities.

Which meant that if they forced Sasha to come with them, Shego and Drakken would be free people again and Kim would have to answer to the authorities. The only option left was to throw all three of them into jail.

"If you want to go to bed, that's understandable. I just wanted to tell you that Aron called again, but I'm sure that can wait until tommorrow." Wade, who was much slimmer than his 11-year old self, smiled back and reached forward to log off, but Kim stopped him.

"Wait. At this time? If he just wants to talk, you can send him through, I can manage a few more minutes."

"Me too." After Kim had told him about Aron's call, Ron was curious if the dark-skinned young man came back with news about his idea.

"Alright, I connect you with him. Have a good night, at least for what's left of it." He waved and the screen changed to a waiting picture. After a short while, the GJ room Aron had called from later that day appeared again, with a charming and only slightly tired Aron in front.

"Hello there. I heard about your mission during my night shift and called, in case you were still awake."

"Let's say we're mostly awake," Kim said with a smile. "So, what's wrong?"

"Oh, no, everything's fine. More than that actually, that's why I decided to call." He grinned brightly. "I talked to Dr. Director today and she kindly gave permission to the operation I'm planning. You two interested?"

"Hell yeah!...Wait, what's it about?" Ron asked after a moment of thinking.

"To sum it up quickly, I want to collect all the new Glow users we know and form a new team to help against the criminals of this world. We're like Team Go, just more global and under guidance of GJ. And since you two are masters of the trade, I wondered if maybe we could team up at the beginning, so the rookies can learn a thing or two from you."

Turning to look at Ron and seeing his sparkling gaze, she just knew that he was thinking about how it would be to work with a whole bunch of super heroes. Maybe Aron's plan wasn't such a bad idea, since they had the problem of a Glow user having turned to the villain side.

"Sounds good, if you get them to join you that is. What are you planning?"

"I want to visit each of them at their homes to try to persuade them and their familys that this is a good deed to be done. Once they accept, I'm thinking about using the Go towers at our first base, since there is enough space and they have the right training facilitys and equipment for our new team. And it's very central, we can reach a lot of places easily from there."

"Sounds like a great idea, we'd love to help." That didn't sound so bad and it would be a wonderful change to their normal mission routine.

"Yeah! Oh, that is going to be so cool, I can totally see it working. Team Go protecting the town and the new super heroes protecting everything else, booyah!"

Aron chuckled behind the screen. "Glad you approve of it. Let's hope they do too. So, want to come with me at the weekend? I'm sure I could use your positive presence."

"We're free. Just call when you want to go and we'll be there."

With the premise of a new, powerful team for the good side, sleep sounded like a much better idea than some time ago. Shego and Drakken could be happy about their stolen goods for all she cared, they wouldn't run around free that much longer. And if they broke out, their chances to win were more slim than ever. Yes, it sounded like a great few months were coming ahead.

______________


	6. Join The Army

6. Join The Army

_____________

Saturday afternoon the three young adults, Kim, Ron and Aron, stood in front of the house of the first Glow user they wanted to visit. It was the suburban area of Go City, clean and nice and somewhat more quiet than the city parts, but still the home of families that earned ordinary wages. The intern that accompanied Team Possible was dressed in his pristine GJ uniform, striking quite a pose with his luxurious black curls swept back in a ponytail. He was the picture of poise, but still a lot more charming than a rule abidding agent like Will Du would have been.

Flashing them a smile, he galantly opened the garden door, offering both of them to go first. "Well then, let's see if we can win little Miss O'Reilly and her parents over for our cause. After you."

"I'm really curious what GJ has in store for them, since Trish is still in school. I think her mom and dad wouldn't want her to skip lessons, even if it was for good deeds...I know that my parents never did," Kim wondered, walking down the path to the front door, followed by Ron.

"Yeah, I remember that it wasn't so easy keeping up with homework and stuff like that when you're gone for the whole day. I guess I couldn't have done it without you as my private tutor, KP!"

"That's because you were plain lazy, even _if_ you weren't going on missions with me," Kim replied with a smirk, elbowing him gently into the side.

"Not fair, I did finish school, didn't I? And my notes are still quite go-...yikes!" The blond boy almost jumped a foot into the air when a small white furball appeared out of nowhere and barked up his legs. It was a well-cared for white terrier that couldn't keep his exitement at bay at the fact that the house had visitors and thus quickly scurried around Ron's legs. The blonde boy had a hart time trying not to step on the energetic bundle and danced from one foot to the other.

"I guess I forgot to mention there was a 'Attention: Dog' sign at the fence, didn't I?" Aron added dryly, kneeling down to welcome the little dog. Which trotted up to him and licked his outstretched fingers after thoroughly sniffing them. "But it's no savage monster, so we're quite safe."

Ron sulked, embarrassed at shrieking because of such a small animal, even though it was totally natural for him to overreact in certain situations. But in front of Aron he wanted to be at least a _little_ more grown-up and worthy. Pushing his hands down his trouser pockets, he drew up his shoulders. "But it _could_ have been...and the dog _was_ quite sneaky."

"Totally sneaky. There has to be a ninja down his lineage."

"Now, that you don't know! There could have been!" the blond protested, his memory of the ninja school still quite fresh in his mind. "Maybe some special ninja dogs, trained for attacking harmless visitors or even worse, blondes. That thing might be a killer dog with the right commando!" With squinted eyes he pointed at the white dog, who panted at him questioningly with a lolling tongue and cute little button eyes.

"Oh, I think I can handle myself...maybe I'm specially trained to counteract assassination attempts by killer dogs below one foot?" Aron, still kneeling on the ground with one leg, did some cheap action film kung fu movements with his arms and hands. "I'm an agent, you never know," he said, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Hey you two knights in no shining armor, once you won against that beast in disguise, can we get on with our recruitment mission?" an amused redhead asked, standing next to the door with crossed arms. Ron jogged over to her with a sheepish expression, while Aron threw her a mock salute during his walk.

"Permission to ring the bell, commander."

Kim rolled her eyes at the dark-skinned youth. "Permission granted. Hurry up, you goof."

They didn't have to wait long for the door to open, meeting a confused and friendly smiling middle aged woman with a drying towel in one hand. For the world saving duo there was no long guess whose mother this could be. The brown, long hair and the shape of her face were a dead give-away, although she was much more stout than her daugther.

"Yes please? Can I help you?"

Taking a step forward, Aron notched up his charm and executed a perfect half-bow. "Good afternoon, madam, we would like to speak with Trista O'Reilly please. We're friends of hers. Is your sister at home by chance?"

Even though it _was_ completely cheesy, the middle aged woman laid a hand on her cheek, smiling at the compliment with a touch of color to her cheeks. "Oh, you're speaking of my daugther! Yes, she's upstairs in her room...please, come inside, I'm sure she won't mind the visit." Waving them inside quickly, she pointed up the stairs. "The second door on the left, if you need anything, just call. Are you school friends of hers?"

Aron smiled politely, shaking his head, while the other two went upstairs with a quick 'Thank you'. "Oh no, actually I've never met her personally. These two did though, I'm just accompanying them. We know her from a meeting in the city and just wanted to see how Trista is doing."

"Well, just go on then, I wouldn't want to keep you."

"There is no way you would, Miss O'Reilly, you are such delightful company. But I guess my friends are waiting." He showed another one of his blinding white smiles and, at Mrs. O'Reillys chuckle and departure towards the kitchen, followed Team Possible up the stairs. On the top, he met Kim's unbelieving face.

"I can't believe you did that. That was _so_ cheap, I had to be careful not to slip on the sleazy path behind you." She couldn't help but grin. "Does that work all the time?"

The intern waggled his eyebrows, righting his collar. "It's the uniform. Moms dig me."

They walked up to the plain door, unsure how to proceed. Loud music blasted through the wood, so there was no sense in knocking. After a few moments of dandling, Kim shouted out. "Trish? Trish! It's Kim!"

After nothing happened, she repeated her shout and finally the music was turned down. Steps followed and when the door opened, a smiling Trish stood in the doorway. "Kim? And Ron! Wow, what a nice surprise, what are you doing here?" Her gaze fell on Aron and an embarrassed blush errupted on her cheeks. "Uh, hi."

"Can we come inside? There's some things we would like to talk about and I guess you already now what I'm getting at," Kim said, having lowered her voice to a whisper.

The other girl nodded and waved them inside. The room they stepped into was your average teenager place, with walls full of posters and a mix of stuffed animals, books and other trinkets on the cupboards. Kim spied an O'Boyz poster she had taken down in her own room about two years ago, after deciding that maybe it was time to leave her teenage time behind.

Trish sat down on her bed, bouncing a bit away while her guests seated themselves on a small couch near the wall. Aron decided to keep standing, leaning against the girl's wardrobe and making a show of looking around the room in great detail, quite aware that the girl was staring at him out of the corner of her eye with keen interest.

"So, who's your friend?" Trish tried to ask casually, throwing a shy look in Aron's direction.

Before Kim could open her mouth, Aron took a step forward, reaching out with his hand and a smile. "Aron Ashby, pleased to meet you. I might say we're companions in having the same chronic.. burden."

Gazing at him with awe while shaking his hand, Trish was undoubtedly overwhelmed with his good looks and smooth voice, so that she needed some time to realize the meaning of his words. "Burden?" She threw a nervous look towards Kim, whom she trusted a lot more after meeting her the last time.

"He's speaking of the Glow. He's got one too," the redhead answered helpfully, leaning forward.

Trish's head sweeped back to him with eyes as big as saucers, filled with a hopeful look. "You do? Can you show me?"

Holding up his right hand, he let the turquoise shimmer flicker across it. The bluish light was a beautiful contrast against his dark skin. "I'm wearing contacts right now, but my eyes are actually the same color. Even my hair has that shine to it in broad daylight, but at this day and age no one wonders about my strange taste in hair dyes. Those pink strands in your hair...they aren't artificially made, are they?"

Fascinated by the display of his glow, Trish shook her head a bit absently. "No, they aren't. My eyes have always been light brown, though."

"Maybe a pink Glow isn't as intense in changing your body as his is," Ron wondered out loud.

"We know next to nothing about our glows, so it might be." Aron carefully sat down next to the younger girl, gazing at her with a serious expression. "Look, Trish...there is another reason we're here to visit you, other than showing you my glow. Say, how do you feel about your ability? Kim and Ron told me a bit about it and your first meeting."

Trish looked down at her fiddling hands and scrunched up her face, silently hoping they hadn't told him about the reason for her first meeting with Team Possible... her stealing. "I- I hate it."

The GJ intern frowned, quickly looking at Kim who shrugged at him in a 'Told you so' way. "Too be true, I'm not too fond of them either, but.. please explain."

Putting some strands behind her ear, Trish took a breath and looked up at the ceiling in thought. "The last time they came out I hurt someone...I was really scared and...you know the story. And I can't make them go away. If my parents found out, they would be so angry, I..I don't even want to think about it! I mean, what use are they? There is nothing I can do with them! And they make me...different. Unnormal." She sighed deeply.

Aron was silent for a few moments and seemed to think over what Trish had told him. The girl finally looked at him after a while, curious, until he started elaborating his thoughts. "I know that you think of your powers as different, hard to control and even dangerous.. and I wouldn't even deny that. But I think these Glows are only bad as long as you _use_ them for bad things, like hurting people. Willingly," he added quickly, when seeing Trish flinch. "You can't control them because you never tried to. There was no reason and the risk of someone finding out about them was too high, I can understand that, since I come from the same place. But then look at Team Go: They are heroes, aren't they?"

Biting at her lower lip, Trish nodded slowly. "Yeah, they are really cool. They help everyone out and stuff like that." Her words were hesitant, because of her meeting with Hego. While he had put a lot of pressure on her, he was still someone who saved the city on regular terms. And Mego had been very nice and helpful, much different than from the interviews she had seen of him a few years ago, were he had spoken mostly of himself and his great value to the team. Maybe he had changed during these years.

"And now imagine what you could do with your power if you could use it for good. It would be a great help for many people. You could keep others from getting hurt by falling debris, or punch in walls to get to kidnappers, and so on. You just need time and effort to get a feel for using them, but once you're familiar with your powers, I'm very sure you...we'd move from hating our Glow to accepting it as a part of ourselves," the GJ intern paused with a bright smile. "Maybe we aren't unnormal. Just special."

Trish just stared at him in open-mouthed shock, trying to understand what he had just implied. "Y- you want me to become a crimefighter? As in Team Go? Are you crazy? I mean, _look_ at me!" Pointing incredulously at her lithe, girlish body, she was close to jumping up from her bed.

"Hey, I started fighting crime with 14 and I was just a normal kid without special superpower help. As long as you put your heart to it, you can do anything." Kim smiled, backing up Aron's speech. "And we don't just want you to go up from today on and join the street brawl with thugs and thieves at night, because that _would_ be suicidal, even with a determined heart and a handy Glow."

"Alright, good...I still don't get what you want with me, but go on," Trish said, turning back to Aron a bit more calmer than before.

"As Kim said, we won't start with that and you aren't going to be alone." Seeing a slight sparkle in her eyes, he reached forward and laid his hand on hers, while speaking with a strong and animated voice that gripped its listeners like a true politician. "We are going to be a team. A crime fighting team. You will still have time to go to school, so your parents won't have to worry, but otherwise we will meet at the Go tower to use their facilitys to train and become stronger. GJ is backing us up and will finance our mission. Everything is planned out and now we only need the people to make it possible. People that have a terrifying, yet wondrous ability they can use to fight for good, because we can be something great. We can be _heroes._"

Ron was so gripped by Aron's heartfelt, pleading speech, that he mumbled an absent 'I'm game' before Kim shushed him, leaving Aron free to go on.

"Look, I'm scared of my powers too, and I don't even know if my parents will be happy about me trying to master them. But I'm sure they will be proud if I start fighting for the right thing and rescue people out of impossible situations. We should really see this power as an opportunity to be more than we are and not as a curse. Team Go showed us that being different doesn't have to be bad, the whole city looks up to them. Imagine how it would be for you, standing up there, cheered on by everyone. Trish, this is a chance to change your life."

Opening and closing her mouth a few times, Trish _did_ imagine it with glazed over eyes. When Aron said it like that, it sounded like a great idea to use her powers for good. The thought of becoming a great fighter for justice, just like Kim, was a wonderful one and made her feel like she could do it. With the help of this nice guy and maybe even Team Possible, it could become the most wonderful time of her life. "Do you really think it's possible? It sounds...great, actually." Licking her lips, she looked down at Aron's hand and blushed cutely. "And you would help me with it?"

"Of course I do, otherwise I wouldn't have started it. And I _will_ help you the best I can, we're all friends here, aren't we?" He smiled at each of them with his fake brown eyes shining brightly, and Kim was the only one that didn't feel the need to return it for the first time.

Clearing her throat and dismissing the strange sensation, she folded her hands. "We just need Aron here to talk to your parents, if you want to join. Ron and I will be part of the club, too."

"I'll join! Just ask me when I need to be there and I'll come. I don't know if my parents will be happy about it, but I'm sure you can pursue them to change their mind," Trish said with renewed enthusiasm, glowing with happiness. "This is going to be great!"

"Wonderful! I'm sure that your parents will see reason once I've talked to them, since this is a matter of national support. Just leave it to me...us," he added with a wink towards Kim.

"So the four of us will be some kind of superhero team? I can't wait to start!" Giddy, Trish imagined how wonderful it would be, with Kim and Ron as one pair and her and Aron...

"Ah, there'll be more, I hope. There are two more Glow users I want to recruit and we will work together with Team Go for a while. There is also a Glow user on ther run, so I doubt she will join, but you never know.. maybe we'll find her soon," Aron explained, oblivious to the other superpowered ones crestfallen look.

"Oh..okay. Great." Trish left her shoulders hanging. But still, the thought of joining this team, fighting crime and being loved by everyone, that still sounded like a wonderful time. She righted herself. "Alright, do you want to go down and talk to my parents?"

With the first part of recruitment number one a success, they went down and started attempting part two.

__________________

"No."

Three baffled faces looked at the speaker, who had just sweeped away all their arguments, the work of at least an hour, with one quiet but forceful and certain spoken word.

Aron seemed almost livid for a second that the other boy had thrown away all his reasoning within the blink of an eye. He hadn't even thought about it, but negated their offer instantly. Kim watched the dark skinned boy close his eyes and take a deep breath, before he opened them again with his usual charming smile. The hard glint in his eyes was new, though.

After gaining the approval of Trish's parents, which had taken much longer than their talk with the superpowered girl, they had gone directly to the next station in their recruitment plan, the destination of choice being Lesley Yorks house. Sitting down in the same living room as before, the very unsure redhead was subjected to the combined force of Aron's and Kim's persuasion skills, coupled with Ron's sometimes quite clever, sometimes totally off topic comments. During the time one of Lesleys older sisters had joined the discussion, surprising the guests with the news that the everyone living in the house knew of their family members 'ailment'.

"We're all quite close. There was no need to keep Lee's power a secret, once Mom found out he still had them," she told them with ease, showing her unspoken support by simply accepting the Glow as a fact.

His sister, while not adding much to the discussion, and Lesley exchanged looks from time to time, which seemed to influence or undermine some of his answers or questions. They weren't as easily persuaded as Trish and her parents, who had been fine with the whole idea once Aron had suggested the affirmation of a contract. While the beginning had consisted of a lot of shouting between the O'Reillys and their daugther, things had turned quite.. sophisticated as soon as money had become a part of the deal.

_How easily some people are bribable,_ Kim remembered thinking with a tad of bitterness, when she saw Aron and Mr. O'Reilly shake hands in a friendly goodbye. She was almost thankful that it took much more to change the Yorks mind, since the mention of a monthly payment had been pushed to the side very quickly.

"We care about his well-being, not the money we get from your organisation," Lesley's sister had thrown in at that point with a rebuking undertone.

After a while the tide seemed to change to the guests advantage, when they saw Lesley nodding more often to their reasons and when it seemed like the young man was becoming more certain. Then the GJ intern went for the kill, adding his most important and almost unbeatable argument.

"You will be fighting for good, for your land and the people in it. There is nothing more important in this world than to fight for what is right. Lesley, will you lend us your powers for that and join us in our mission to fight crime?"

Lesley nodded once and with conviction, so that Kim, Ron and Aron smiled relieved.

Then the redheaded boy had refused as simply as that.

Their faces fell.

"You.. you really don't want to?...Why?" the teen hero asked stunned, trying to rewind the conversation to the point where Lesley had openly shown his refusal to their mission. But she only remembered him being unsure and surprised at the whole concept of joining, while trying to think hard at certain moments about their reasons, asking either more in-detail questions or changing the subject to other topics that seemed unclear to him. But looking at him now, she could see he was very adamant about his refusal.

_Maybe we should just leave it at that. He might change his mind one day.._ Seeing Aron gathering his wits, he interrupted her train of thought with a question towards the younger York boy.

"I'm sorry, but could I talk to you in private for a minute?" He was smiling friendly while saying that, but something about it rubbed Kim the wrong way again. He saw her glancing at him with a worried look. "Don't worry, I just want to clear up some things," he added with a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it with reassurance, so she nodded and watched the two young men leave the room.

"You okay, KP?" Ron asked her softly when Lesley's sister also left to get something to drink. He had seen her worried look and wondered about it. _It's not as if Aron would beat the other guy into submission. He's an agent with a strong sense of justice, he wouldn't do anything like that_.

She gave him a small grin. "Yeah, everything's fine. I'm just.. I don't know, it seems like Aron is out for something that he isn't telling us. He's handsome, funny, charming and persuasive, an overall nice guy. And an agent on top. He's so good at everything he does..." Biting her lip, she tried to make sense of the little knot of nervousness that had sprouted at Aron's look. "I'm a bit unsure what he might do if he doesn't get what he's after."

"Do you think he's going to blackmail them or anything like that?" Ron asked with furrowed eyebrows. "I really don't think he's that kind of person.."

"No!" Kim said quickly, taking his hand. "No. He's not going to step that low, I don't believe that either. Maybe it's just my overly careful mind or I'm just desperate in trying to find some kind of flaw about him. I mean, he's like a walking white vest," she said jokingly.

Ron chuckled slightly. "Yeah, it's a bit scary. He's a tiny bit like a male Kim Possible, I'm just waiting for him to say 'I can do anything!'"

Slapping his arm good-humouredly, the redhead snorted. "As if. He's too much of a flirt to be like me. I mean, he virtually_ screams _vanity."

"There, now you have your flaw, eh?" They smiled at each other.

_________________

Lesley closed the door to his room behind Aron. "Look, you have your answer, what else do you want?"

Aron didn't reply. Instead he placed one hand into the other behind his back, his gaze grazing the walls of the room, carefully making one step after the other while moving around. "Nice place you have here, Lee. Is 'Lee' okay?" A sharp nod from the side. "You're a hard rock fan? I wouldn't have thought." His brown eyes scanned a book case. "Quite a few cooking books...did your sisters teach you that?"

"I like cooking. So what?" Lesley shot back, his nervousness acting up again. He folded his arms, trying not to feel intimidated by the impressive agent.

"Oh, just curious. What's your favourite sport?" Aron fiddled with a little male statue, which seemed to be of either greek or roman origin.

"I..like handball and basketball. Could you answer my question, please?"

"Well, of course." Walking past the study desk, Aron's fingers grazed a few sketches and drafts of people drawn with coal, quite aware of how uncomfortable the other boy was. "But only if you answer mine first. Why don't you want to join?"

Lesley shifted from one foot to the other, trying to make sense of this charade. "Because I'm not a fighter.. I hate fighting. There is no sense in fighting for good if you don't want to fight. I don't like to get hurt and I like to hurt others even less, so what reason do I have to join an organization based on fighting?"

Nodding slowly and in understanding, Aron mulled over Lesleys answer in his mind. Again the silence stretched on for some time, before the intern decided to say something. "So..what you are trying to say is...you're a coward that would rather stay in his little comfortable home than help saving other people's lifes? Sure, I get that," he answered as if giving his opinion about yesterday's weather.

Lesley's mouth fell open in shock. "W-Wha...you...I never said that!" he hissed back.

"Oh, don't make a fuss, I already said I get it. I mean, you got bullied a lot during school because of it, so it's understandable." The dark-skinned boy lazily let his eyes drift over the only male York, his stance a picture of nonchalance, while leaning against the study desk.

"H-How did y-.."

"Just some old school records I stumbled across. And well, it's not easy to be only half a man. But at this age you don't need to be shy about it." Aron cut him off with his smooth matter-of-fact voice. "I mean, really, there is enough evidence around. And since you grew up with three sisters, it's no wonder you turned out that way. I'm not judging or anything, but maybe it's time to stand up for who you are. Some half-assed lies about 'not wanting to hurt others', it sounds good to most people, but hey, you can't live a life like that forever, can't you?"

"Are you implying...you..you god damned..." Lesleys hands at his side were balled to fists and his pale cheeks were spotted red, not with embarassament, but with white hot fury. "I am _not_ gay! Take that back this instant!"

Aron blinkled innocently. "Did I imply that? Maybe you are just jumping to conclussions because I hit a sore spot?" He placed his trademark grin on his lips. "It's alright buddy, no need to get furious about that, it's not good to keep the truth bottled up inside for such a long time. Although it's a pity, I would've loved to go out on a women hunting trip with you."

"I said I _am_ _not_ _gay!_ Stop right now or I'll throw you out of my house this instant!" The redhead looked as if he wanted to throw a punch anyway.

"Oh come on! It's so _obvious_. But maybe, if you really want to change my opinion-.."

"I'm not joining. I don't want to fight!"

The smile Aron send him said everything and Lesleys fingers opened and closed in helpless frustration. "You know I'm not the first and the last one to think that, don't you? There is an easy way to prove not only me, but all of them wrong...but that's your decision and since you're refusing.." He threw Lesley a wink. "So long, it was nice meeting you.."

The GJ intern tried to leave through the door, but a hand grabbed his arm, holding him back. He could hear the younger boy breathing harsh through his nose.

"I..."

Watching Lesley out of the corner of his fake colored eyes, he held back a grin when he saw the redheads shoulders slump. He had won.

"I'll...join."

__________

The three left in the living room entertained themselves with some stories of Kim's adventures, told and polished by Ron, who created the perfect atmosphere with his flying hands and sound effects. Their laugther was interrupted when the two young men returned, standing in the entry way of the living room. Aron sported a big, happy smile and had one hand thrown across Lesleys shoulders, who in return had a defeated look about him, with his eyes glued to the floor and his brows furrowed.

"Hey guys, after talking a bit with our new friend, he has some great news for you! Out with it, Lee-boy!"

The boy in question took a deep breath and righted himself a bit. "I'm joining your cause. I'll fight with you."

"Lee...why the sudden change? You weren't forced, were you?" his sister asked concerned.

To Kim's surprise and suspicion, Lesley shook his head, his tone conveying the truth of his words. "No, I decided it myself. I want to join."

"In the end, I just had the better arguments," Aron joked, while clapping Lesley's back. "That's my man! I knew you would understand that it's for a good cause!"

"If that's really your decision I won't argue with you...I mean, its undeniably a good thing. Let's just wait until Mom get's home and.."

"No," Lesley cut in, interrupting his stuned sister. "I'm 18 years old and I know what I want. This is my own decision."

When the woman only nodded unconvinced, Aron sent her a wry grin. "Don't worry, we'll take good care of him. There will be a lot of training before we start doing anything remotely dangerous." Throwing a glance out the window, he saw that it was quite late. "Kim, Ron, it's getting dark. Why don't we call it a day and head home? We'll send someone over for talking about the details of the contract soon, Miss York."

"But...we didn't want the money..."

"Take it, please. It wouldn't be fair if the other familys got a little fee and you refused out of modesty. Just see it as a thank you from the government."

Letting go of Lesley, Aron and Team Possible said their goodbyes and waved to the siblings while walking away. Kim watched them as they stood in the doorway of the house, Lesley in front of his sister, who had her hands on his shoulders. Turning to Aron, she tried to make sense of what had happened.

"Why did he suddenly decide to join? What changed his mind?"

Aron smiled sheepishly. "I'm afraid I've been reduced to begging. I could see he was a boy with his heart at the right place...he didn't want to see people get hurt. So I tried everything I could think of. The pleading did the trick and I think he might feel a bit guilty that this was what changed his mind. Don't mention it to him, please? I don't want to hurt his pride."

"No big," Ron said from Kim's other side. "All's fair and game, as long as it's by the rules."

Aron grinned at him. "That's exactly what I think. I'll go and call our ride, wait here a second." He jogged towards the next corner, flipping open his mobile phone, not realizing that Kim was watching him thoughtfully.

"Ron, is it just my warped sense again or do you think he's hiding something? Why didn't he talk to Lesley in front of us?"

The blonde boy shrugged, putting his hands inside his pockets. "Maybe it's a thing between guys. Or some secret agent stuff. You shouldn't wrack your brain about it, KP."

Kim sighed, rubbing her temple in thought. "Maybe you're right. We should look forward to this hero team." _But I'm going to keep an eye on you, Aron. Something's fishy and I know I can trust my instincts most of the time._

_______________

Two weeks had gone by and Sasha was _dying_ with boredom. While Shego did whatever floated her boat and Dr. Drakken sulked in his lab, she had only Jerry and some of the other henchmen to keep her company, when they weren't busy with work. They were a nice and helpful bunch of people, but because of their strange working hours, they switched around a lot, meaning that Sasha didn't get very close with any of them. Having had a part time job in a cafe two years ago, she easily compared it to that time: They were hardly more than colleagues. And Sasha, being the person she was, had a hard time opening up to someone she didn't call a friend.

Out of the bunch, Jerry tried his best. He showed her the rest of the big and complicated labyrinth like facility they called their home lair and kept a seat free for her during lunch time. When he saw that Sasha still moved around him with a certain kind of trepidation and an awkward formal air, he tried to reassure her.

"I'm just trying to be a friend, really. Nothing more. Don't let my loose nature get you, okay?" He smiled and she smiled back and everything was as awkward as before. But at least she didn't flinch at every pat on the back anymore.

She realized quickly that she felt the most comfortable around Dr. Drakken, strange as it was. But he was entertaining and unmindful of the her in a way that made the villain rookie feel as if he acknowledged and overlooked her at the same time. That felt...strangely reassuring. She didn't have to say or do anything when watching him from her place, most times sitting on a table or leaning against a wall, but when he asked her a question it was mostly rhetorical or he forgot her answer the instant she gave it. Sadly, he kept his lab door closed most of the time and she was too scared to barge in on her employer's room without being summoned.

Sometimes she wandered the halls alone. The runaway always steered clear of the rooms where the synthodrones were created, which raised the hairs on her neck every time she thought of the empty fake human skins and the green goo kept in a big tank. This was stuff that could've come straight from her nightmares and she tried not to think about it too long.

The nightmares were another sore point. After meeting Team Possible for the first time they had started the very same night, as if trying to remind her that there was a life out there which she had rudely left behind. While those bad dreams were quite annoying and woke her up in the middle of her sleep, they were still quite tame and forgotten easily once her eyes opened, but she had the bad feeling it wouldn't stay that way. Since she didn't have anything else to do, Sasha caught up on her sleep in the afternoon when her boredom got the best of her.

Blinking her eyes open from her nap on the couch, Sasha realized it would be time for dinner soon. _Bleh._ While the canteen food kept it's promise of filling your stomach and erasing your hunger, that was about all it did. The food was overcooked, fatty and high with carbohydrates and protein, which was what the hard working and mostly male staff of the lair needed, but it made her own stomach twist and turn in apprehension. She wondered if anyone would miss her if she skipped it today.

_I can't stomach that glob, I'm getting sick just thinking about the taste.._ Sighing, she pushed herself up, remembering something else she could do.

About one hour later, after reassuring Jerry she just hadn't been hungry when meeting him on the floors, she carefully opened the door to the room with the big words 'kitchen' above it. Darkness greeted her.

After a second of fumbling around, the artificial lights flickered alive and Sasha quickly closed the door behind her, after making sure no one had seen her sneaking in. She was quite sure that a camera somewhere had recorded her movement, but she doubted that using a room she had been given permission to was a cause for alarm. She simply didn't want to talk to anyone, had they seen her move into the kitchen right now and decided to ask her why.

It was a homey little room, with a table surrounded by a bank and three chairs, a refrigerator with a small freezer, a few cupboards and all the cooking facilities you needed in a well used kitchen. Only that in truth the solemn well used machine in this room had to be the coffee maker, by the signs of it. This was probably Drakken's and Shego's own personal room for cooking of all kind, since the canteen had his own kitchen and staff. But the henchmen brought Drakken's meals into his labs and Sasha would swear the green villainess ate outwards most of the times, with her being absent so often.

_Then let's see what we have_, she thought and started to open some of the cupboards and the refrigerator. Pots and pans of the highest quality, head chef cooking tools...everything she needed was in her grasp. Sasha felt a smile blossom on her face, but it fleed once she looked into the fridge.

A box with two eggs left, some butter, a water bottle and a green something that had once been a salad. Sasha wrinkled her nose.

_Well, maybe I can use the eggs.._ Taking said things out and also the butter, she went on in her search. There was a door in the back that led to a small storage room, which was much more promising than the fridge. Noodles, canned food and other things that didn't decay that easily were found here, as well as a selection of spices that made her eyes sparkle.

Twenty minutes later, she had cooked a simple meal consisting of noodles with egg, but just the well spiced and fresh aroma of it was _so_ much better than anything from the canteen, that she felt simply fulfilled. _I didn't think I would miss cooking that much.._ A glance towards the stove told her that she had made too much, but she knew why.

A bittersweet feeling filled her stomach. _Of course I made too much. I'm used to cooking for three._ It would take some time to change her usual cooking habits and just the thought of it made her heart clench in pain.

Refusing to throw the freshly cooked dish away, as simple as it was, she decided to put everything on a big plate and then cleaned up until everything was as good as new, making a mental note to ask Jerry who was responsible for buying the goods. Maybe she could use her new money on some more expensive ingredients? Switching the lights in the room off, she left the kitchen, which remained as before although with the smell of fresh cooking in the air.

Five minutes later she thanked her luck when she found Dr. Drakkens lab doors wide open. "Dr. Drakken? Boss?" She stuck her head into the room, searching for the blue-skinned man.

He was hunched over a bunch of notes that covered the whole table, mumbling to himself without pause. Spotting a grey mass on another surface, she smiled as she realized he hadn't eaten yet. "Dr. Drakken, are you hungry? I have some leftovers here."

The mad scientists looked up irritated. "What? Eaten? No, I didn't, I'm too busy correcting this formula...but I just can't find the mistake...it should be so easy..." He started mumbling again, one gloved hand scratching his temple in confusion.

Taking a few steps inside, she easily switched the dishes, quickly placing the canteen food into the trash while speaking. "I'm sure that's because you can't think with an empty stomach. I remember that from school, you need the energy or you can't think." _Now if that doesn't sound smartass, I don't know._

Drakken grunted something, nodding to himself but still looking at the notes. "Yes, yes, that sounds quite smart...no energy, no thinking, of course....well, of course!" He looked up as if just having found the answer to all the questions in the world, a strange manic glimmer in his eyes. "Once I've eaten, I can solve everything! Quick girl, the food. Leftovers you said? Whatever, just give it to me."

Handing him the dish dutifully, Sasha folded her hands behind her back and watched with a small smile as her employer gobbled down the food with renewed vigor. Once he had a taste, his cheeks full with the food, he stopped for a second to look down at what he ate. "That tastes good." He resumed eating, happily placing the plate aside once he was finished. "Oh, I can basically feel how my brain cells are activated! My genius is reaching new heights!"

Sasha, always happy when someone was satisfied with her food, grabbed the plate to bring it back and jumped almost a foot into the air when Drakken pointed a finger at her with an overly loud "_You!_"

Feeling fear creep along her spine, the rookie hunched over. "Y-Yes? Boss?"

"You will bring me more food from this day on. No wonder I can't think with the meals those oxen bring me each day, ridiciulous to think that a genius like me can live of simple things like canteen food. I have special needs!"

Heaving a sigh, the shocked girl relaxed slowly. "Uh, sure. I just need new groceries, then I can start cooking from today on.."

"Do that then. And now, I need silence! There is work to be done." He gleefully rubbed his hands and grabbed a pen to mull over the same problem as before, his dark brows crinkling. He didn't get any further than before the meal, but at least he _thought_ he was. Leaving the mad scientists to his work, Sasha slinked out of the lab as quietly as possible, a happy expression in her eyes.

_Maybe I don't need to change my cooking habits after all._

__________________

A/N:

Over 200 visitors! Thank you very much for reading this! I hope I can keep this exciting, there are so many secrets left to uncover. Thank you again!


	7. Down The Rabbit Hole

A/N: I'm very sorry for the long wait, but my life is kinda busy right now. School, inheritance, friends (and FFXIII can be blamed, too, at least this month), it made finding time to write difficult. But I'm still eager and up for the fight, so don't worry, this is nowhere near abandonded. I hope I can get more done during the school holidays. Long story short, thank you very much for keeping on reading and have fun with the next chapter!

7. Down The Rabbit-Hole

______________

Two out of four people felt quite out of place inside the Go tower. After exchanging greetings, Trish and Lesley had been very quiet and just followed Ron and Aron up the many stairs, which the GJ intern had deemed their 'first real exercise', meaning that the two youths were panting and sweating once they had reached the higher levels. It didn't help that they were dressed for the rapidly cooling weather: Thick cloaks, warm shoes and scarfs, only the mittens and hats were yet absent. It was a wonder no steam erupted from their cocoon once they opened the zippers.

"Remind me again why we had to walk fully clothed?" Lesley gasped once he had loosened the scarf around his neck. His pale cheeks were spotted with red and sweat ran down his brow.

"It's all part of the training, believe me. Come on, you don't want to tell me a few easy stairs are enough to make you surrender?" Aron replied with an evil twinkle in his unnatural eyes, his normal fake brown contact lenses absent today, so that the color was giving his gaze an odd heightened intensity.

"Not surrender, but darn near close," the carrot head grumbled, finally free from one layer of cloth.

Ron, still in surprisingly good shape after the climb, stepped near. "Hey Aron, how come you can use the tower entrance? Did Team Go get your Glow an limitless-free-ride entry card?" He pointed to the young man's hands, that had gained them entry in the huge building. The dark-skinned man had placed his activated Glow on a touchpad, gaining surprised stares from all who surrounded him, though Trish and Lesley had been more interested in the flickering, flame-like aura than the fact that he could waltz just like that into a superhero hideout.

Aron placed both hands on his hips and grinned. "GJ is working together with Team Go and the whole agenda is lead by my name. It would only make sense that, as a spokesperson, I have full entry to the training facilitys. I still can't get into the highest floor, which makes sense, since that's their personal area."

"Man, and you're still just an intern. Maybe joining GJ wouldn't have been so bad."

"Not _just_ an intern. It's called intern, but I'm actually already in the programm to become the next agent on mission. You could call this my... admission test. But let's change the topic, there are more important things than listening to my bragging, as much as I'd love to." He winked at Ron, earning himself a chuckle.

Trish, who was just hanging up her jacket and trying to get her ponytail back in order, joined them, closely followed by a slightly peeved Lesley. "Oh, I would love to hear about it. I never heard of Global...Justice, was it?.. before meeting you. It sounds exciting, a whole organization dedicated to fighting crime in the world. And you're a real agent?" She smiled bashfully at him.

Aron patted her shoulder with a nice smile. "You bet I am. GJ has just recently started to show more presence in the world instead of staying a secret underground organization, thanks to the politicial pressure from the countrys, so it's still new for most people... but I'll tell you more about it in a quiet minute," he added, when he saw her eyes light up again at the 'secret underground organization'. "Now it's time for some work. Let's get changed. Come on, I'll show you the rooms. After that we start with the warm-ups until Kim gets here."

___________

"You wanted to talk to me? Is something the matter?" Kim asked after shaking hands with the head of GJ. They were in Dr. Directors office room, where said woman had stood up the same moment a blonde secretary had led Kim through the door. Indicating the young hero to take a seat in front of her desk, Dr. Director did the same after fetching a thin folder.

"There is no trouble, if you're thinking that. At the moment everything is running quite smoothly and with most of the villains behind bars, at least for a while, it should stay that way for some time. You did extraordinary work, Ms. Possible, as always."

Blushing at the rare compliment from the stoic woman, Kim bowed her head. "Thank you, Dr. Director. I'm just trying to do what I can best, let's just hope the quiet holds for a while."

"And how is your studying getting along?"

_I'm sure you already know all about that, down to the mistakes of my latest test, but..oh well._ "Very well actually. It's stressful, but very interesting; I'm very glad I already choose my major up front or I would have a hard time deciding what to do," the bright young woman answered with a smile.

The one-eyed agent nodded and with just the flick of her wrist, which opened the folder in front of her, Kim knew the topic was closed. After she had refused GJs offer to join them they hadn't asked again, which she was thankful for, but she knew an open door would always be waiting for her in the not-so-secret-anymore organisation.

"Miss Possible, as I was told you are aware of Agent Ashbys recent project, am I correct?" Kim affirmed with a quick nod and the doctor went on. "Since you will be in close contact with him during that, I would like to ask a favor from you, as well as give you a warning."

"How can I help?" the redhead asked in a serious voice and Dr. Director had to smile a little at Kim's ever helping hand, a trait that hadn't dimished after years of world saving as a teenager. Kim's refusal to join them had been sad, but not overly surprising.

"Mr. Ashby is known as an agent to this house, even though still in training, but not as an 'agent on mission'. That is what we call our full members. His request to create a team that works in collaboration with Team Go is exactly the kind of initiative we expect from our youngest members as a step towards full commitment, although most of them don't start so... unique. And since it is our agenda to show more presence in the active day to day crime, Agent Ashbys plans are quite in tune with GJs happenings. If he succeeds, the new team will be a great addition to our force and will secure that he gets very far in his job."

Kim smiled wryly and thought of the shameless charmer, who was probably already chasing the two superpowered youths across the training hall. "Yes, I think he really comes after his father, career-wise. Both are men who want to reach the top."

"And they both have everything they need to do it," Dr. Director added pointedly. "As I already said when you two first met, he is very promising, so we already promoted him from junior trainee to intern and he's just one step away from becoming a full agent after a mere six months. His grades are excellent, his athletic ability scored the highest in his youth group and the one above and he is pure leadership material. So I'm asking you, Ms. Possible, to keep a close eye on his doings."

Seeing Kim's surprised look, she went on. "Let me explain: His ascent on the career ladder is too fast and too soon. I want to know if I can lay the lives of more experienced agents in the hand of one who is only 19 years old. But on the other side I can't withheld the promotions he rightfully earned, not with his track record and most of the younger members in full support of him. In the eyes of our members he is starting to become the perfect agent and some already believe he has high chances of taking the seat as the next leader of GJ once I decide to retire. I need someone neutral watching him, someone who can ease my fears that he might evolve into something which hurts the organisation I believe and trust in."

Surprised at Dr. Directors earnest honesty in her need for help, Kim mulled the situation over in her head. She didn't believe that Aron was out to hurt GJ in any sense, but just like the woman in front of her, Kim also had the inkling that there was a little '_but'_ in Aron's seemingly perfect appearance, although she couldn't put her finger on what it was. Remembering the two times in which Aron's demeanor had scratched her the wrong way, she vowed to keep a closer eye on her instincts. _He is a good agent, no doubt. Let's find out if he's a good person, too._

"I can see what you're getting at," Kim finally answered. "But I don't think he's a mole or anything of that kind. He seems to really care about his job and he puts much effort into raising this new team. But I will watch his doings more closely from now on, just in case that there still might be something wrong. After all, no ones perfect."

"But it's possible.."

"..for a Possible," the younger woman ended with a laugh. "Although I don't believe I'm perfect. Just very good at all I'm doing. Well, except cooking and leading a football team, that is." Pushing some hair behind her ear with a sheepish expression, she smiled back at the impressive head of GJ. "So, you said something about a warning?"

Turning the pages of the folder, the one-eyed woman nodded and let her eye scim over the written page in front of her. "Yes, it's something which might help you with your 'task'. After I started getting suspicions, I got myself his psychological file, and there is one or two things I would like to point out to you."

Realizing now that the file in front of Dr. Director belonged to Aron, Kim fidgeted on her chair, uncomfortable with the notion of getting a direct look at what should be private material. She wasn't fond of the idea of snooping around in what was someones mind laid bare, without them knowing and allowing it beforehand. Before she could say anything, Dr. Director held up a hand as if sensing her distress.

"Don't worry, I will only put into words what is neccessary for you. There is no need for you to read anything of the file." After a hesitating nod, the head of GJ looked across the text again, before closing the folder and placing her folded hands on top of it. Heaving a small sigh that told stories about her indecision about the overall subject, the older woman started talking again.

"As I already said, Agent Ashby is a man who knows what he wants. He is ambitious..._very_ ambitious." Stressing the second to last word, she lowered her eye at Kim. "But everyone with a good knowledge of human nature can see that. What is more interesting is the doctors concern with his sense of right and wrong. Other than you, Ms. Possible, who can point out some of the shades of gray with a mercyful hand, Mr. Ashby is very caught up in his sense of justice. Which turns out to be very black and white, if you allow me to say it that way. Coupled with his strong ambitions, he might do things he himself deems as just, but which simply have gotten entangled with his need to raise on top. I am hopeful that with being in close proximity to you, he might learn a different way of seeing the world."

Raising her eyebrows just a little, Kim leaned back. "So you think I will be a good influence on him?" the girl half-stated, half-asked.

"Either that, or you two might start walking two very seperate roads at some point. And things could turn ugly from there. But when push comes to shove, I trust your personal opinion a lot more than that of a young man with us since mere 6 months, at least inoffically. Offically, if Mr. Ashbys perfect role model shell turns out to have a rotten core, it will take time and effort to ensure he doesn't get my seat, since not everyone at GJ values your opinion like I do."

Still vaguely shocked about the praise the generally stone cold woman was heaping on her, Kim clasped her hands on her knees and thought the situation over. She would be, for that was the core of the whole request, spying on Aron. That in itself didn't sit well with her, but after hearing Dr. Directors troubles, she understood that it was for a very important reason. Global Justice, as the name said, was a big, influencial organization and just imagining the wrong person steering it's reins... it was no pretty thought. So, even while a small part of her still screamed treason at her for her decision, she couldn't very well say No after Dr. Director herself had asked for a personal favor. And really, it wasn't as if Kim would start digging in Aron's personal belongings. She just needed to keep an eye open.

"I'll do it," Kim finally said to the quiet GJ head and stopped for a second to get a feel for the decision she made. Her instincts didn't start raising an alarm, so maybe it was right that she had accepted the task. "But I will include Ron and Wade in the task."

Seeing Dr. Director relax in a way only Kim and other people that knew the one eyed woman would call 'relaxing', the redhead decided that it _was_ a good thing. She had a great deal of respect for the older woman and knew she would never ask something of her that would go against Kim's morals.

Nodding acceptingly, Dr. Director leaned back in her seat and closed her eye, which could stare down people a lot better than the two functional ones on the majority of all human beings. Kim wondered if having only one eye doubled the natural authority a person held over others or if it really was a character thing.

"Thank you, Ms. Possible. This will ease my troubles quite a lot."

Catching her tongue before the _"No Big"_ could slip out, Kim smiled instead. _I'm really to old for that phrase, am I?_ "Alright, do you need anything else from me?"

"If you are wondering about our research for the other Glow users...we have yet to find anything new. I admit that we aren't searching with high priority, but it's still up and running. All trails we found turned out be wrong leads or had turned cold ages ago. There is that matter about Sasha Mahoney, but we have yet to find her... it's as if she vanished from the face of earth."

Holding in her shock about GJs lack of knowledge about Sashas whereabouts, Kim just remembered that she hadn't told Aron about it either. _I'll keep it to myself for the moment, maybe I can still change her mind. Once that doesn't work, I'll tell Aron. And that's just the same as telling GJ._

"Just tell me if you find anything, but I'm guessing that our luck has run out for the time being. We'll watch out for any hints, though," Kim answered diplomatically, not wanting to lie or refuse a direct question about the topic concerning the missing woman.

Nodding, Dr. Director slowly started to lift herself from her seat, signaling the coming end of the conversation. As the most important being in the complex she probably was busy enough as it was. "Do that, I'm sure Mr. Ashby will keep both sides updated. Thank you again for accepting my request."

Standing up quickly, the young hero shook the offered hand. "I'm happy if I can help and it's not something that will keep me very busy, since I'm going to met with him regularly anyway. I'm heading there right now, actually."

"Then I don't want to delay you any longer. Have a nice day, Ms. Possible."

Sitting in the jet GJ had kindly reserved for her, Kim still thought the whole matter over. Calling her task spying was a bit drastic, since all she had to do was keep an eye open. She just hoped for both sides concerned that Aron was simply a little bit high strung about his duties as a soon-to-be agent; that the cracks she had sensed in his brave knight armor were simply the human flaws everyone showed from time to time, even herself. It wasn't hard to imagine what the younger agents did: Aron in a pristine uniform, straight posture, charming smile, the perfect example to any good GJ worker. He would look good on the seat in Dr. Directors room and she could see him handling orders and problems with the same smooth air of competence that Dr. Director had.

But would that which _seemed_ to be there add up with what _was _there? _Looks like only time will tell. Let's see what Ron has to say about it... but I guess he'll still be a bit swayed by his buddy-relationship with Aron._

That turned her thoughts to another Glow user and made her furrow her brows. _And then there's Sasha. This is another big problem all in itself._ It wouldn't be easy to sway the woman towards the right side of justice. Getting her home didn't seem an option after Ron had told her about Sasha's absolute refusal to go back to her mother. _But she's an adult, there's no need to get her back home. At least not right away._

Knowing that she couldn't solve all problems in the world caused Kim to sigh. The Mahoneys personal problems would be something she had to keep her nose out of, but getting Sasha away from crime had good chances of succeding. Maybe she just needed to get the woman to talk to her alone for a moment. _If only I had found her first that day..._ _I guess Shego saw the news and was just a bit quicker in finding her out on the street than Ron and I... she got lucky that time. But that doesn't mean she won the war. I wonder what she wanted with Sasha? Another fighter for their side or was she just curious? I guess the fact that there are other superpowered people with abilities that should have been restricted to her family is a bit more personal for her than for us._

Wondering about Shego's mindset about the whole situation kept her from realising that the jet had landed on top of the Go tower and she had to be jerked aware by the impatient pilot. Saying a quick thanks and hopping out of the plane, the redhead made her way to the training rooms. Mego opened the door for her via the panel, since she was unable to open the Glow controlled door from the outside. Entering the training hall she just needed a second to find her lanky boyfriend standing at the side, watching the three others doing their training program.

"Cheating yourself out of the training?" Kim asked with a twinkle in her eyes when she made her way over.

Ron snorted, crossing his arms. "I'm at least three times fitter than those two, even if I can hardly believe it myself. All the running around on missions seems to have done at least some good. They are going through the basics and Aron asked to watch and help, so I won't bore myself to death."

Waving upwards to Mego, who was sitting behind the glass wall and inside the control rooms with his interestedly watching twin brothers, she activated a button on her Kimmunicator, which would keep other people from listening in, in a small bout of paranoia. "Look, Ron, I just talked to Dr. Director.."

Quickly summing up what had happened, Ron listened with what was an unusual seriousness. Only Kim knew that her boyfriend had started to get his random acts of overreacting a slightly bit more under control once he had begun training as a veterinarian, meaning that he could sit still and listen when it was really needed. Most other times he still had his head in the clouds, though. When Kim was finished, his shoulders slumped, reminding her of when he had been five years old.

"Aww man... and I thought Aron was such a cool guy. I mean, he's like totally agent-y and all that when he wants to be. And other times he's just that easy, smart boy. And he likes me! I never had a cool person that likes me, you know."

"I don't think agent-y is a real word," Kim started in a gentle tone, while laying an arm around his shoulders, "and I don't think you need to worry that much yet. It's just a precaution, right? Even Dr. Director says he has all he needs to be a good agent. There's just a lot depending on him being a really good guy, so even if he has a small problem with ambition or anything like that, we can help him fix it, don't you think?"

Smiling up at her from beneath his blond bangs, Kim could see him mentally lifting himself up. "Yeah, your right." He quickly hugged her back. "Maybe it's not so bad to know Aron's still just a normal person like you and me. Were all on the same level here. Well, apart from the fancy Glow stuff."

"Did he ask anything about Sasha?"

"Naa, he was busy coaching the two 'rookies' over there, as he likes to call them. You should've seen that. He's really demanding, but still a good teacher." Towards Rufus on his shoulder he mumbled, "Mr. Barkin would've _loved_ him."

The mole rat shook himself in disgust.

"Let's keep that information to ourselves for the moment. I want to try to get her back at least once more of her own free will before we head there with the cavalry. I suspect Shego would gleefully beat them to a pulp." Wincing at the image, Kim watched Lesley and Trish sweating and panting after the tenth push-up.

"And I reaaally want to spare them meeting up with that witch as long as possible. Been there, got the t-shirt." Ron shuddered, he knew that even with superpowers of their own all three of them would get quite a shock when getting to know the fighting fury that was Shego, even with Kim there to keep her somewhat busy. "She would eat them for breakfast. And lunch. And maybe even dinner."

"So it's settled then. We'll try to make Sasha see that a life of crime isn't really the greatest idea. If anyone knows that she's with Drakken and Shego right now, the police would only get more suspicious than they already are."

Ron scrunched up his face in realisation. "Oh, right. They are still searching for her because of that 'psychic bomb', aren't they? Once they get wind of her being a criminal right now, it will be a lot harder to proof that she's most probably innocent."

"Yeah," Kim said with a note of worry, "I really don't believe she did that willingly. Maybe her brother's death triggered something inside of her and then...she lost control."

They were silent for a while, remembering the surveillance video where the missing woman had caused the still ongoing coma of twenty-seven unsuspecting people. If willingly or not...that was still up in the air, even if they believed her to be innocent. After Aron had finally given up on trying to get Lesley to do another push-up half a hall away, Ron snapped out of his daze.

"So when will we get to met the last Glow user? Shouldn't she be here today?"

The redhead blinked at her partner. "Uh...actually...I think she's arriving any min-.."

At that point, all movement in the room got interrupted by the slamming of a door hitting the wall. Turning their heads to the side in surprise, they could see a young woman with tanned skin and long, golden blond hair marching into the hall, dressed stylishly in what could only be called upper class training clothes in yellow and orange and carrying a modern handbag. She held her head high, placed her free hand on her hip and sneered at the people her angry gaze caught.

"Great, I'm going to work with a loser group. I thought you said we'd be a winning team of fame and fortune, Ashby, not a sweaty group of some whiny looking emo and a feeble carrothead. And there's even a badly dressed hero and her buffoon sidekick. Don't let me get started on Team God No."

"Darn it, it's Ron! _Ron!_ How can three letters be so hard to remember?!"

Kim only groaned when she met the sky blue eyes turned ice that reminded her so well of someone she thought she would never have to met again. _Please, please, please to whoever God listens. _

_Not a second Bonnie!_

_______________

"Anything noteworthy?" Shego asked and inspected the bluish x-ray showing the skeleton of a hand with a keen eye. Turning her head to the side when the image didn't give her any more informations, she prodded her opposite to speak with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm sorry to say this, dear, but I fear I don't have any spectacular news for you."

Shego watched the small doctor walking closer to the x-ray; he pointed out the specific places where the injury had been with his pen. "Six stitches, starting from between thumb and forefinger and ending inside the hand. There will be scar tissue, since both ends of the cut were frayed." The villainess frowned at the mention of the scar tissue for reasons only Dr. Rimus knew had nothing to do with sympathy. "We pulled the stitches after two weeks, by now she should already be able to use her hand freely again."

"So?"

"So." Both already knew the conclusion to this meeting, but the doctor spelled it out anyway. "No enhanced healing abilities, the healing factor is simply slightly better than average thanks to a healthy lifestyle. But there is nothing remotely close to your Glow benefits. Average healing, average reflexes, average stamina, although I had to applaud that she is quite healthy and fit for a person her age, even if she claims to dislike white change on her body is giving me some trouble, though.. it seems to be some kind of mutation, but I need more time to look at it."

After hearing the truth about the matter, Shego couldn't help but feel... _disappointed_. When she had flown out to gather the so-called Glow user she had seen on the news, a small part had been hoping that Sasha would make a good fighter. The meteor powers did grant the green woman accelerated healing and heightened all abilities you needed in a fun tussle, so why shouldn't the same apply to the new kid? Maybe the black and white Glows the younger woman kept in her body were much more different than she had initially believed them to be. _Maybe I can still whip her into an acceptable back-up fighter. Even Junior managed to hold his own once he really started to take interest in my lessons._

"Did you keep an eye on her?" Dr. Rimus asked and ripped the villainess out of her drifting thoughts. "It's been a month now, so I think she should be starting to settle into the normal lair life. I'm still quite worried that the young lady took the whole situation harded than we might think.."

"Sure," was the quick, distracted reply and Shego didn't know if the good-natured doctor could hear her lying through her teeth. "I look how she's doing from time to time." That, at least, was half the truth. She did stumble across the young woman here and then when she was near Drakken's laboratory or on her way to the kitchen, but the villainess didn't go out of her way to look after the rookie. Most times Shego hadn't been at the lair anyway, rather spending the time she wasn't needed out on the shore, shopping, partying the night away or doing anything else besides working. It wasn't as if Drakken cared if she was there or not as long as he was in his planning stage. And with Sasha keeping him company he didn't even need her for his ranting phases, where he would call her from god knows where at god knows when just to have someone sit near by and listen to his endless speeches.

The small man squinted his soft brown eyes at her. "I see. And?"

"She's doing fine. Dandy. The goons and her get along well, Drakken's happy for the attention and I'm glad for more me-time. It's all sunshine and roses and that shit." Rolling her eyes at the older man clearing his throat when she used the curse word, Shego released her folded arms and placed her hands on her hips. "Are we finished?"

"Of course, Miss Impatience-in-person, go on your merry way, there are people who's bloodied noses I have to mend. Ring a bell?" He cocked an eyebrow at her, an amused smile curling his lips.

"They were especially slow today," the green woman drawled, fluttering her eyes in mock innocence. Wednesday training at morning with the henchmen was a fun way to demonstrate that filling your nails and pummeling guys at the same time was indeed possible. "Not my fault if they keep attacking me from odd angles. A fair woman has to defend herself, hm?"

"Try giving them a warning next time, dear."

Scoffing at the ridiculous notion, she waved his words off with her hand while simultaniously leaving the room through the hissing door. _If they actually decided to train once a day, they wouldn't have to run to the doctor crying every time I try to make them do more than run at the enemy with flailing arms._ A smirk grew on her face when she remembered a particular scene where one of the smaller, lighter guys had tried to kick her in the backside of her knee. _At least one of the smarter moves today._ Although it had ended with him buried under three of his much heavier colleagues, since she had nicked the nail of her middle finger with the file while jumping over his foot.

_Let's have a look at the freak duo in the laboratory._ Strutting through the dull lair floors with half her mind on more important matters, like what to wear Friday night or how to counter a specific move by the annoying redhead, Shego almost didn't realize that the sound of fighting was penetrating her ears. Stopping short, she strained her ears to listen more closely.

The sound of a punch hitting flesh. Someone male crying out in hurt. A body hitting the wall or ground with a grunt. Scuffling and feet shuffling across the room. Then Drakken, who cried out in annoyed protest at whatever happened in front of his eyes, followed by a pained "No!" from Sasha.

Almost becoming a blur from the burst of speed that erupted from Shego's body, the green woman hardly felt her feet touch the ground when flying past the rooms across the sides. Determination and battle lust caused her blood to rush faster and her heart to thrum harder, her body humming with the familiar feel of adrenalin and anticipation, mixed with the softer touch of dread of not knowing what was happening at her destination. Team Possible? Hardly. Was it GJ? Or maybe even WWEE? Maybe even an organization she hadn't yet heard from, or worse, the army. But why? With the exeption of their last heist the whole lair had been laying low since quite a while. Was it her own fault for not being sneaky enough when out on vacation? Or were they coming to get Sasha? Thousands of What Ifs ran through her mind.

Sliding around a corner, Shego dashed down the hallway, the double doors of the laboratory opening quickly to let the running woman inside, who was poised to attack and tear apart the first intruder with the bad luck of crossing her way...

_You GOTTA be kidding me!_

No intruders. No hurting comrades. No fight. At least, no _real_ fight. Feeling stupid as hell, the fuming villainess lowered her raised claws and, gritting her teeth, stared daggers at the two people sitting on the floor about ten feet away.

They were playing a game. A freaking combat game. Each one armed with a controller, Dr. Drakken's and Sasha's eyes were glued to one of the big screens atop the machine panels, while the two virtual fighters fought with the volume raised to an almost ear-shattering level.

"Curse you! I almost won this one!" Drakken shouted, small fingers pushing the controller's buttons with vigour at random.

His opponent let out a small, lilting laugh when the winner screen showed up. "No way. I still had half my life when you went down!" Feeling watched, the younger woman threw a look over her shoulder, smiling slowly. "Oh, good day, Shego."

"Shego!" Drakken turned around, not quite managing to get his legs out of the tangle they were in. "Care to join us? After my genius was in a low, this girl had the brilliant idea to introduce me to the world of virtual gaming! A fine move, I must say, I can literally feel my brain cells reacting to the stimulus!"

"Or maybe they are quivering in agony at the constant losing. You should be used to it," the thief growled out between clenched jaws.

"He's better at the shooters," Sasha threw in helpfully.

The blue man huffed in annoyance. "Well, I take that as a No then." Grabbing the controller again, he turned back around, eyes glittering with maniac glee. "There is still a game I have to win!" Pushing a button, the duo was quickly captivated by the action on screen again, oblivious to Shego's raising agitation.

"Sure, whatever. Go and play until your brain explodes through your eyes, what do _I_ care." Turning around to stomp out of the laboratory with flaming hands, the villainess almost didn't catch the comment directed her way.

"I made some breakfast for you, if you're hungry. It's in the kitchen," Sasha said with most of her attention directed elsewhere, not looking anywhere but upwards at the fight while her fingers mashed the buttons. Drakken tried to keep up, looking like a six year old with his tongue poking out at the side and his eyes squinting.

Huffing and throwing some hair over her shoulder, Shego didn't dignify the words with a response. A _game!_ Of all things! She guessed it had to be the console the henchmen kept in the lounge, but with hardly anyone playing it during the day, Shego wasn't used to the sound of it. She should have waited a few more seconds before running of to try and safe her stupid boss and his yet still useless new sidekick, maybe then she would have realized sooner that it couldn't be a real fight. Her trained warrior responses had been faster, though.

_That teaches me a lesson,_ the green woman thought with a scowl, ripping open the door to the kitchen. The odor of freshly baked pancakes assaulted her nose, distracting her angry mind for a moment. _Now, if that doesn't smell good._ True to Sasha's words there was a dish filled with at least half a dozen of the sweet threats; jugs filled with maple syrup, chocolate and other tasty toppings right next to it. Now she remembered the empty plates that had been standing next to the two gamers.

Sasha must have found out from the henchmen that the doctor's sidekick was back from vacation and ready to get back to their weekly training (which had been acknowledged with a lot of groaning and whining). But why cook something for the blue boy and her? _If it's good I'm not complaining. Saves me the trouble to change and get something down in the city, since there is no amount of money that could get me to eat that grub in the cantine._

Drenching the pancakes with the syrup, she grabbed some cutlery and milk and marched back towards her rooms, deciding that a little sugar to start the day would improve her mood tremendously. It was like an unspoken peace offering for her useless quick start run, so when the door clicked shut behind her, the thief was sufficiently calmed down. Deciding to be a bit decadent, she sat down on her bed and carefully placed the milk on her night table and the plate on her lap. A second before the fork could hit the delicious breakfast, her body froze.

An unbidden thought.

_How long has it been since someone made me breakfast?_

_Years._

_15 years._

Flashes of memories forced themself into her mind's eye. She remembered her mother's face, her brother's laugh. They had eaten hashed eggs, toast and roasted ham. Her father had already gone to work, Hego had overslept. It had been such a normal, average day. She had refused to think about it, about anything at all close to it for exactly 15 years. Making breakfast had been her job from that day on and she had refused to ever look back to a time where it had been different.

Forcing down everything of her past just as quickly as it had erupted, Shego pondered life's funny ways. _Strange how something simple like a meal in the morning can first safe a day and then ruin it all over again._

Before the thief started on her pancakes, she carefully closed and checked each and every lock placed onto her past memories, hidden behind strong doors of will and denial. Once she was satisfied that all traces of her old self were forced away, she placed a slice of the sweet dish into her mouth.

_It wouldn't do to waste something tasting this good,_ she thought and never looked back to her slip-up.

______________

_"Sasha, look! It's a froggy!"_

_Deep blue eyes twinkled at her, wide and big. The smile on his child-like face was so happy and captivating, that her initial fear about slimy amphibians calmed down towards youthful curiousness. "Lemme see!" she screamed in a high voice, scrambling across the grass nodes towards her giddy brother._

_"Here, sssh!" Carefully he brought his hands forming a round hollow towards her, slowly opening them to the sides. Both children stared in awe at the little, moss-green creature inside, sitting peacefully on the human skin as if it were a rock hidden between blades of freshly grown grass._

_"It's so small," Sasha whispered with wonder, but not with the courage to touch the small thing with the big golden-black eyes. It was fascinating to watch it's body take measured breaths, but the shiny sheen across it's skin made her shy away._

_"I want to show it to daddy," Gwyn said happily, distracted enough that the black strands hanging into his line of vision didn't attract his attention like usual, when he would huff and puff them out of the way. She snickered at the green and brown blotches covering his clothes. He looked as if he had just taken a roll down the entire meadow they were standing in._

_"Mommy's going to kill you, you're dirty."_

_"You're dirtier! And there's icky stuff in your hair." Sticking out his tongue at his gasping sister, he started running, laughing all the way when he saw that the horrified girl patted her head in search of the substance, until the second she realized that she had been fooled. _

_Screaming in protest at his roaring laugther, she took after him and his infectious smile, spying her mother and father walking calmy along the road ahead. She could see them turn, smile at them and then watch as her father raised his hands to wave, before the memory faded away._

Sasha blinked and then squinted her eyes at the reflection in the mirror. She pulled down the lower eyelid of her right eye, carefully leaning nearer to the clear surface. The intense blue color that stared back at her, surrounded by too many splotchy and thick red veins, was foreign and disturbing, like it was some unknown appendage and... not part of her body. And it wasn't... just that it was. _I'm starting to confuse myself here._ Scrunching up her nose, she turned her head to the side, enough that her 'not-quite-part-of-her' eye could watch her own face warily.

Reaching up with one hand, she rubbed at a spot on her temple where white skin turned into natural tan. The line was uneven, but very distinct, like someone had cruelly splashed a handful of waterproof white paint at her, staining the skin permanently. The color wasn't simply that of paleness, of staying out of the sun for a more than unhealthy amount of time - no, it was as if the melanin in her skin had simply changed from dark to white instead of vanishing. She wondered if her freckles would vanish, too, once the stuff spread across her face.

_Let's hope that doesn't happen, I really don't want to look like a walking hospital wall._ Curling a snow-colored strand of hair around her finger, she marveled at the _pureness_ of it. Every single hair at that spot had changed, turning from raven to a lighter, fuller shade than any artificial bleaching could accomplish. Sasha remembered a snow owl she had seen in an animal park as a kid and how she had been in awe of the beautiful, soft white feathers she had been allowed to touch carefully. Then she remembered brushing Gwyn's wonderful disturbing white hair and shuddered, quickly taking her hand away.

_...it doesn't fit me. And it only reminds me of bad things. _Pushing herself away from the mirror she had been leaning so closely towards, the run-away took one last glance at the person in it, contemplating her silently.

_After all these years I still don't know who you are and if I like you or not. But it seems that we two are stuck together._ Sad, bi-colored eyes answered in solemn silence to her mind's words. The irregular sleep was starting to wear her a tad down and the bangs under her eyes weren't pretty. _Maybe Dr. Rimus can help me,_ she thought and pinched her cheeks to get some life into them.

Quickly stripping out of what she called 'Borrowed set number 4', Sasha placed the clothes on the side before stepping into the shower. She still hadn't been able to gather up the nerve for a trip home to collect her things, instead wearing and washing the red henchmen outfits every few days. No one complained and no one asked, so the need to wear her own clothes hadn't been strong. But it was starting to grow.

The nightmares, the constant time of having nothing to do, the lack of personal belongings, it all was starting to get to her. While her hands busied themselves with turning the water stream to the right temperature, her mind was running miles and miles around the same old doubts that started to plague her more with every day she spent at the lair. It had been about a month since Shego had gathered her from the street after running away from... _Gwyn._

He would be buried under the earth by now. Dead and lifeless and pretty in his whiteness and suit. She would never be able to gaze at his face again, which was so similar and still altogether different to her own.

The realization that she would never be able to _ever_ see him again, hear him again, talk to him again, forced all air out of her lungs and made every rib and muscle in her torso hurt from the strong constriction. Cold flodded her veins, her body delving so deeply into shock that she didn't even have energy to shake. Unconciously grabbing the shelf her shower gel was placed on, her wide eyes stared unseeingly at a random white tile below her waist line.

"Oh god...Gwyn..."

_"Sasha...Sasha, I am so, so sorry." _His helpless gaze, the agony swimming in the summer sky blue iris. His last moments, his final words. The last time. The _last_ time.

"He's gone.." she whispered, realization hitting her aching chest with the blow of finality. "Gwyn..." She shuddered, placing her hands on her face, on her eyes, on her neck, but nothing could stop the searing in her heart. When a loud sob racked her frame, her closed up throat rebelled against the quick intake of breath, forcing itself even more together. Another sob, more pain. Hurt that couldn't be healed by anything but time. It was the revenge for pushing away emotions and facts that should have been dealed with much, much sooner and not alone in a shower room, in a foreign room, in a lair filled with people she had no connection to.

And her mother? Standing alone at the grave filled with her favourite, yet dead child, her husband gone, her daughter running away like the coward she was. Eleanor had been right all the times she had called her daughter useless, foretelling the day she would have to do everything alone, the only one she could rely on being herself. Oh, how she wished to be close to her now, crying with her head on her mother's knees, like she had done as a child of mere three years. Back in the days when Eleanor hadn't shown her favoritism so painfully open.

_What the hell am I doing here?_ the crying young woman asked herself in confusion, letting the sorrow and the hurt of missing her brother wash over her just like the warm spray of water. _I don't belong here. _But she wouldn't be welcome home either, would she?

_Where do I belong now? ...You were home, Gwyn. My home._

Pressing against her temples, gasping and struggling for air between the convulsions of her ribcage, Sasha pushed her head under the water until the steady stream rushed past her ears and created a dull, thundering noise that drowned out everything: her thougths, the sound of her crying, the dead, the living, the world. It reminded her of the white noise blocking out all the horrible voices that had tortured her that fateful day.

She would have to get out of the shower eventually. But for now she craved the refugium the four spartanic walls offered away from the outside.

For now, she let it be her sanctuary.


End file.
